Abstract: In this paper, 23 main plant species of herb, shrub and tree were sampled from southeast Horqin sandy land, and their leaf traits including fresh weight (FW), dry weight (DW), dry matter content (DMC), area (AR), specific leaf area (SLA) and thickness (TH) were measured. The results showed that the leaf traits of herb were more variable than those of shrub and tree. The average SLA was in the order of herb ≥ shrub≥ tree, DMC and DW was in reverse, while no apparent change was found in TH. A significant variation in leaf SLA and DMC was observed among herb, shrub and tree, and there was a significant correlation between these two indices, suggesting that SLA and DMC could be used to predict the plant species position along a resource use gradient. In case of leaf thickness, some variability could not be explained in this study, and thus, further studies should be focused on this leaf trait.

Key words: Pine wood nematode disease, Pathogenic bacteria, Complex infection, Propagation