Estimation of Single Leaf Area of Acacia mangium Willd

The objective of this study was to determine the best equation for estimating the leaf area of ​​Acacia mangium Willd. from the linear dimensions of the leaflets of non-destructive form. For this, 476 leaflets of plants belonging to Lajeado farm were collected in the municipality of Ecoporanga, in the north of the State of Espírito Santo, Brazil. From each leaflet was determined the length (L) along the main midrib, the largest width (W), the product of the multiplication between the length and the width (LW) the observed leaf area (OLA). For the modeling, we used 382 leaflets in which OLA was the dependent variable in function of L, W or LW as independent variable, being adjusted the linear models of first degree, quadratic and power. For the validation, the values ​​of L, W and LW of 94 leaflets were replaced in the equations obtained in the modeling thus obtaining the estimated leaf area (ELA). The means of ELA and OLA were compared by Student's t test at 5% probability. . It was also determined the mean absolute error (MAE), the root mean square error (RMSE) and Willmott's index d. In order to select the best equation, the following criteria were used: : not significant of the comparison of the means of ELA and OLA, values ​​of MAE and RMSE with closer to zero and index d closer to one. The power model equation represented by is the most adequate to predict the leaf area of ​​Acacia mangium Willd. quickly and non-destructively.