Abstract: To clarify biomass allocation and its variation with culm body size of Moso bamboo (Phyllostachys edulis) is of theoretical and practical significance, contributing to a better understanding of the intraspecific variation in biomass and thus improving the estimation accuracy of both biomass and carbon stock. The results of such study can also be applied to the oriented cultivation and production and lead to added values of Moso bamboo, thus increasing farmers’ income. Here, a destructive sampling method was employed to examine biomass allocation, its variation with body size, and the respective relationships of biomass of leaf, branch and culm of Moso bamboo based on 227 standard bamboos. The mean individual biomass values of leaf, branch and culm were 0.84, 1.42 and 6.84 kg, accounting for 9.21%, 15.60% and 75.19% of the total aboveground biomass, respectively. The biomass values of three aboveground components mutually showed strong linear relationships (R² > 0.75, P < 0.001). Significant correlations were respectively found between the diameter at breast height (DBH) or the culm height (H) and the biomass allocation of aboveground components, both of which could be expressed with power functions. It was inferred from the power functions that the culm of Moso bamboo with smaller DBH (or H) had a larger proportion of biomass in the upper components (e.g., leaf), compared to those with larger DBH (or H). The results of this study are consistent with the allometric partitioning theory, namely, the biomass allocation of a plant is constrained by its body size. A further experiment is needed to verify whether the biomass allocation of Moso bamboo also complies with the optimal partitioning theory.

Key words: 16S rDNA sequences, catalase, endophytic bacteria, wheat seedling, peroxidase, salt stress