Fig. 5

Comparisons of LB (a) and TB (b) of R. pseudoacacia and S. japonica grown in different water and defoliation treatments (mean ± SE, n = 5) at 8 weeks after defoliation. Different uppercase and lowercase letters denote significant differences in each species at p ≤ 0.05 by Duncan’s test, respectively. W1, W2, and W3: 75%, 55%, and 35% of field capacity. D0, D1, and D2: control, 50% defoliation, and 100% defoliation. Asterisks indicate significant differences between species in each drought and defoliation treatment separately with independent sample t-test: **p ≤ 0.01, *p ≤ 0.05.