A Comparison of the Accuracy, Variability and Speed of Five Different Methods for Estimating Leaf Area

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Abstract
Three analogue- and two microprocessor-based methods for estimating leaf area were compared for accuracy, variability and speed, on 200 leaf templates of known area and contrasting shape (bipinnatifid, ensiform, elliptic and triangular). The data were analyzed in two blocks for each shape; ≤3000 mm2 and > 3000 mm2, using non-parametric statistical methods. Comparison of the results obtained with the true template areas suggested that all the methods were reasonably accurate (mean slope = 0·97; mean r2 = 97·7%). The errors were relatively smaller (mean = 1.28%) when measuring the larger leaf templates compared with the smaller templates (mean = 10·46%). The microprocessor-based systems provided quicker and more accurate estimates than the analogue methods. Increasing magnification of the images measured was a satisfactory way of significantly reducing the variability and mean error of the image analyzer and the planimeter methods (P ≤ 0·05).