Abstract:

To discuss the effects of season, habitat and canopy orientation on leaf pigments of evergreen garden plants in urban area, the garden plant Cinnamomum camphora was chosen as the target in seven habitats in Anqing City, Anhui Province, the leaf samples in both south and north sides of plant canopies in summer and winter respectively in 2016, and then the leaf chlorophyll a, chlorophyll b and carotenoid contents were determined. The three-way ANOVA indicated that season showed largest impact on leaf pigment contents, following by habitat, whereas the canopy orientation and its interaction with other factors represented weak impact. The leaf pigment contents and chlorophyll a/b in winter both showed lower values than that in summer, while leaf pigment indices varied in habitats, indicating non-obvious regularity. The correlation analysis presented that soil total nitrogen and phosphorus, and available nitrogen and phosphorus showed significant effect on leaf pigment in winter, but the soil factors had no obvious impact on leaf pigment in summer. The influences of habitat on leaf pigments of C. camphora presented different effects varied with seasons.

Key words: habitat, season, canopy orientation, garden plant, chlorophyll, soil heterogeneity