Abstract
Transition matrices of shoot dynamics of Rhododendron reticulatum were made for each stem growing in different light environments. Their dominant eigenvalues and associated eigenvectors were calculated to estimate the growing rate of the individual stem crowns and the prospective structure. Stem crowns in edge environments were predicted to be expanding, however, some stem crowns in gap and closed environments were predicted to be shrinking because of lower light intensity. Dispersed percentages of flower shoots among stems in edge environment were caused by the fluctuation of the light intensity reaching the crowns. The percentage of dwarf shoots was higher in closed environments than in edge and gap environments, meaning that adaptive structure of the crowns was formed in dark environments. Under the certain hypotheses, shoot dynamics analysis using a transition matrix offered the estimation of the individual growth and reproduction.
