Density effect on physiological characteristics of broadleaved seedlings of Elaeocarpus sylvestris

Taking 1 year-old Elaeocarpus sylvestris seedlings as test materials, density effect on physiological characteristics of the seedlings was studied using pot experiment. The seedlings were planted with four different densities: 1, 2, 4 and 8 seedlings of each bag (density I, density II, density III and density IV). Physiological indexes of the different density seedlings were determined. The results showed that with increasing density, changes in contents of chlorophyll, soluble sugar and MDA in the leaves of the seedlings were not significant, soluble protein content and SOD activity increased followed by a decrease, whereas proline content decreased.