Life form (on vascular plants) (生活型)
Spelling: life form, life-form or lifeform
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Definition
Raunkiaer's life form
Raunkiaer's life form spectrum in the world
Raunkiaer, Christen Christensen
Bud dormancy and lifeform - Definition
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- Growth form of the species, e.g., coniferous tree, broad-leaved tree, evergreen shrub, deciduous shrub, fern, graminoid, forb, parasite or saprophyte, dwarf woody plant
- Avoid stressful periods (cool/hot temperature, or drought) by dormant organs
- Raunkiaer's life form (dormancy form)
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Table. Raunkiaer's life form or dormancy form spectra (Raunkiaer 1934) Code Life-form name Position of dormancy bud Example P* Phanerophytes Trees MM Macrophanerophytes > 8 m in height Larix kaempferi, Populus maximowiczii, Fagus crenata M Mesophanerophytes = 2-8 m Camellia japonica, Aucuba japonica N Nanophanerophytes = 30 cm - 2 m Shrubs Salix reinii, Ledum palustre Ch Chamaephytes < 30 cm Ardisia japonica, Trifolium repens H Hemicryptophytes Ground surface Perennials Polygonum sachalinense, Taraxacum officinale G Geophytes Underground Petasites japonicus var. giganteus, Phyllostachys heterocycla HH Helophytes Underwater Typha latifolia, Nymphaea tetragona, Ceratophyllum demersum, Hyderilla verticillata Th Therophytes Producing seeds Annuals Polygonum longisetum *: including epiphytes and sclerophytes
Fig. Raunkiaer's life form. Brown squares indicate the positions of dormant buds. (a) phanerophytes, (b) nanophanerophytes - chamaephytes, (c) hemicryptophytes, (d) geophytes, (e) therophytes, (f) epiphytes - Raunkiaer's life form spectrum in the world
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Life form Ph Ch H G/HH Th World standard 46 9 26 6 13 Tropical 61 6 12 5 16 Desert 10 17 20 6 46 Mediterranean 12 6 50 18 19 Warm temperate 8 6 50 18 19 Arctic 1 22 66 15 2 Alpine - 25 68 4 4 Tropical: Ph
Warm temperate: H
Arid (desert and Mediterranean): Th
Apline and arctic: H/G (woody) and Perennials + long-day plant - Bud dormancy and lifeform
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Table. Depth of bud dormancy, structures of dormant bud and life form of herbs in the temperate region.
From Yoshie's seminar
Species Depth of bud dormancy Type of dormancy Type of dormant bud Raunkiaer's life form Phenology of shoot Oct. Dec. 1. Erigeron annuus 3 4 I A Hpr WG-SG 2 Oenothera biennis 3 6 I A Hpr WG-SG 3 Geum aleppicum 6 7 I A Hpr EG 4 Rumex acetosella 3 4 I A Hpr SG 5 Viola sp. 6 7 I A Hr SG 6 Trifolium repens 5 5 I A H SG 7 Plantago lanceolata 6 6 I A Hr EG 8 Plantago asiatica 23 4 II B Hr SG 9 Leibnitzia anandria 54 11 II B Hr Sg 10 Solidago virga-aurea 39 12 II B protH SG 11 Aster sp. 19 19 II B** protH SG 12 Solidago altissima 45 18 II B** protH SG 13 Artemisia japonica 37 8 II B protH SG 14 Artemisia montana 54 10 II B protH SG 15 Anaphalis margaritacea var. angustior 39 17 II B protH SG 16 Sanguisorba tenuifolia var. tenuifolia f. alba 52 15 II B protH SG 17 Tiarella polyphylla 19 10 II C Ch EG 18 Pyrola incarnata 59 16 II C*** Ch EG 19 Pachysandra terminalis 25 11 II C*** Ch EG 20 Agrimonia japonica 23 7 II B** Grh SG 21 Geranium thunbergii 17 13 II C Grh SG 22 Filipendula kamtschatica (300) 11 III B Grh SG 23 Helianthus tuberosus 300 33 III B Gst SG 24 Aster glehnii 300 240 III B Grh SG 25 Adenocaulon hilnalaicum 300 60 III B Grh SG 26 Cacalia hastata var. orientalis 300 24 III B Grh SG 27 Polygonum filiforme 300 31 III B Grh SG 28 Phrma leptostachya var. asiatica 300 23 III B-C Grh SG 29 Cacalia delphiniifolia 300 19 III B-C Grh SG 30 Cacalia auriculata var. kamtschatica 300 16 III B-C Grh SG 31 Diphylleia grayi 300 43 III C Grh SG 32 Petasites japonicus var.giganteus (300) 8 III C Grh SG 33 Lilium cordatum var. glehnii 300 53 III C Gbulb SG 34 Trillium smallii 300 46 III C*** Grh SG 35 Trillium tschonskii 300 50 III C*** Grh SG 36 Trillium kamtschaticum 300 41 III C*** Grh SG 37 Paris tetraphylla 300 25 III C*** Grh SG 38 Chloranthus japonicus 300 33 III C*** Grh SG 39 Erythronium japonicum 300 60 III C*** Gbulb SPG 40 Gagea lutea 300 24 III C*** Gbulb SPG 41 Anemone raddeana var. integra 300 31 III C Grh SPG 42 Panax japonicus 300 28 III C Grh SG 43 Maianthemum dilatatum (300) 10 III C*** Grh SG *: 300 and 240 - No bud burst within 300 days and 240 days, respectively.
*: (300) - A few buds burst within 300 days.
B**: Some buds had swollen or burst slightly in late October.
C***: Shoot which develop in the following vegetative period are performed in the dormant bud.
*: Hpr - Partial rosette plant of hemicryptophytes, Hr - Rosette plant of hemicryptophytes, protoH - protohemicryptophyte, Ch - Chamaephyte, Grh - Rhizome geophyte, Gst - Stem-tuber geophyte, and Gbulb-Bulb geophyte.
++: WC - Wintergreen, SC - Summergreen, EG-Evergreen, SPC-Springgreen. - References
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Raunkiaer, Christen Christensen
March 29 1860-March 11 1938
A Danish botanist and plant ecologist, being famous by the proposal of life-form concept
A professor in botany at the University of Copenhagen, Denmark, and the director of the Copenhagen Botanical Garden (1911-1923)- Raunkiaer C. 1907. Planterigets Livsformer ogderes Betydning for Geografien. Copenhargen
- Raunkiaer C. 1934. The life forms of plants and statistical geography. Oxford University Press, Oxford