Different reproductive costs lead to different resource allocation mechanisms of dioecious plants,and this gender difference will lead to changes in the process of growth and reproduction. Changing reproductive costs is an effective way to further understand the response to gender differences in resource allocation of dioecious plants. This study focuses on the dioecious plant A. barbinerve within the mixed coniferous and broad-leaved forest ecosystem in Jiaohe,Jilin Province. The characters of leaves and new branches of vegetative organs and copper,molybdenum,boron,iron and manganese involved in reproduction were used as quantitative indexes to explore the sex difference and plasticity of dioecious plant A. barbinerve under different growth stages and different reproductive costs. A total of 60 A. barbinerve plants,both male and female,were selected across the sample plots and categorized into three groups. All the plants in the CK group were not treated at all,all the plants in the RB group removed all the buds of the whole plant at the early bud stage,and all the plants in the RF group removed all the flowers of the whole plant at the end of flowering. Samples of leaves and new branches from A. barbinerve across various treatment groups were collected during flowering and fruiting stages,and two-way ANOVA was conducted to assess significant sex-based differences in A. barbinerve under varying reproductive costs. The results showed that changing the reproduction cost had no significant effect on specific leaf area and leaf biomass,but had significant effects on the biomass and length of new branches and the contents of Cu,Mo,B,Fe and Mn in leaves of A. barbinerve at flowering and fruiting stages,and produced a sex-differentiated response. During the flowering stage,female plants in the CK group had significantly less biomass in new branches compared to males,yet these branches were significantly longer. The contents of Cu and Mo in leaves of male plants in RF group were significantly higher than those of female plants,and the contents of B,Fe and Mn in leaves of female plants were significantly higher than those of male plants. There was no significant difference in the contents of Cu,Mo,B,Fe and Mn between male and female plants in control CK group and RB group. During the fruiting period,the biomass of new branches of female plants in RB group was significantly lower than that of male plants,the length of new branches of female plants in RB and RF groups was significantly longer than that of male plants,the contents of Cu and Mo in leaves of female plants in control CK group were significantly higher than those of male plants,and the contents of B,Fe and Mn in leaves of male plants were significantly higher than those of female plants. There was no significant difference in the contents of Cu,Mo,B,Fe and Mn between female and male leaves in RB group and only RF group. In different growth stages,the change of reproduction cost had significant effects on the biomass and length of new branches and the contents of trace elements Cu,Mo,B,Fe and Mn in leaves,and showed gender differences. The regulation of sex and reproductive behavior on the traits of plant leaves and new branches may be an adaptive response to accommodate the requirements of different reproductive stages. These findings support the differential plasticity hypothesis that plants adapt and optimize reproductive strategies by adjusting resource allocation and element absorption in the face of different environments and reproductive conditions. The results help us to deeply understand the important mechanisms of resource allocation and adaptive evolution in dioecious plants,and provide a new perspective for the study of related plant reproductive strategies.