Comparison of leaf construction costs in woody species with differing leaf life‐spans in contrasting ecosystems

Villar, Rafael; Merino, J.

doi:10.1046/j.1469-8137.2001.00147.x

Cited by 211 publications

(185 citation statements)

References 54 publications

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“…The disproportionate PW relative to leaf area for leaves of larger M^ and the consequently higher petiole flexural rigidity would contribute greater support stability given that the laminar center of mass could be displaced over larger petiolar second moment of area. Such investment in greater safety is consistent with the investment in greater construction cost for leaves of higher M^, and their generally longer life spans (Villar and Merino 2001;Wright et al 2004).…”

Section: Modelsupporting

confidence: 63%

Fossil leaf economics quantified: calibration, Eocene case study, and implications

Royer¹,

Sack²,

Wilf³

et al. 2007

Paleobiology

115

219

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Abstract,•Leaf mass per area (M^) is a central ecological trait that is intercorrelated with leaf life span, photosjnthetic rate, nutrient concentration, and palatability to herbivores. These coordinated variables form a globally convergent leaf economics spectrum, which represents a general continuum running from rapid resource acquisition to maximized resource retention. Leaf economics are little studied in ancient ecosystems because they cannot be directly measured from leaf fossils. Here we use a large extant data set (65 sites; 667 species-site pairs) to develop a new, easily measured scaling relationship between petiole width and leaf mass, normalized for leaf area; this enables M^ estimation for fossil leaves from petiole width and leaf area, two variables that are commonly measurable in leaf compression floras. The calibration data are restricted to woody angiosperms exclusive of monocots, but a preliminary data set (25 species) suggests that broad-leaved gymnosperms exhibit a similar scaling. Application to two well-studied, classic Eocene floras demonstrates that M^ can be quantified in fossil assemblages. First, our results are consistent with predictions from paleobotanical and paleoclimatic studies of these floras. We found exclusively low-M^ species from Republic (Washington, U.S.A., 49 Ma), a humid, warm-temperate flora with a strong deciduous component among the angiosperms, and a wide M^ range in a seasonally dry, warm-temperate flora from the Green River Formation at Bonanza (Utah, U.S.A, 47 Ma), presumed to comprise a mix of short and long leaf life spans. Second, reconstructed M^ in the fossil species is negatively correlated with levels of insect herbivory, whether measured as the proportion of leaves with insect damage, the proportion of leaf area removed by herbivores, or the diversity of insect-damage morphotypes. These correlations are consistent with herbivory observations in extant floras and they reflect fundamental trade-offs in plant-herbivore associations. Our results indicate that several key aspects of plant and plant-animal ecology can now be quantified in the fossil record and demonstrate that herbivory has helped shape the evolution of leaf structure for millions of years.

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Section: Modelsupporting

confidence: 63%

Fossil leaf economics quantified: calibration, Eocene case study, and implications

Royer¹,

Sack²,

Wilf³

et al. 2007

Paleobiology

115

219

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…Building high-LMA leaves needs more investment per unit leaf area. Construction cost per unit leaf mass varies relatively little between species: leaves with high protein content (typically low-LMA leaves) tend to have low concentrations of other expensive compounds such as lipids or lignin, and high concentrations of cheap constituents such as minerals 41 . Leaf traits associated with high LMA (for example, thick leaf blade; small, thick-walled cells) have been interpreted as adaptations that allow continued leaf function (or at least postpone leaf death) under very dry conditions, at least in evergreen species.…”

Section: Climate Influence On Leaf Investmentmentioning

confidence: 99%

The worldwide leaf economics spectrum

Wright

Reich

Westoby

et al. 2004

Nature

Self Cite

7,335

582

9,277

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Bringing together leaf trait data spanning 2,548 species and 175 sites we describe, for the first time at global scale, a universal spectrum of leaf economics consisting of key chemical, structural and physiological properties. The spectrum runs from quick to slow return on investments of nutrients and dry mass in leaves, and operates largely independently of growth form, plant functional type or biome. Categories along the spectrum would, in general, describe leaf economic variation at the global scale better than plant functional types, because functional types overlap substantially in their leaf traits. Overall, modulation of leaf traits and trait relationships by climate is surprisingly modest, although some striking and significant patterns can be seen. Reliable quantification of the leaf economics spectrum and its interaction with climate will prove valuable for modelling nutrient fluxes and vegetation boundaries under changing land-use and climate.Green leaves are fundamental for the functioning of terrestrial ecosystems. Their pigments are the predominant signal seen from space. Nitrogen uptake and carbon assimilation by plants and the decomposability of leaves drive biogeochemical cycles. Animals, fungi and other heterotrophs in ecosystems are fuelled by photosynthate, and their habitats are structured by the stems on which leaves are deployed. Plants invest photosynthate and mineral nutrients in the construction of leaves, which in turn return a revenue stream of photosynthate over their lifetimes. The photosynthate is used to acquire mineral nutrients, to support metabolism and to re-invest in leaves, their supporting stems and other plant parts.There are more than 250,000 vascular plant species, all engaging in the same processes of investment and reinvestment of carbon and mineral nutrients, and all making enough surplus to ensure continuity to future generations. These processes of investment and re-investment are inherently economic in nature [1][2][3] . Understanding how these processes vary between species, plant functional types and the vegetation of different biomes is a major goal for plant ecology and crucial for modelling how nutrient fluxes and vegetation boundaries will shift with land-use and climate change. Data set and parametersWe formed a global plant trait network (Glopnet) to quantify leaf economics across the world's plant species. The Glopnet data set spans 2,548 species from 219 families at 175 sites (approximately 1% of the extant vascular plant species). The coverage of traits, species and sites is at least tenfold greater than previous data compilations [4][5][6][7][8][9][10][11] , extends to all vegetated continents, and represents a wide range of vegetation types, from arctic tundra to tropical rainforest, from hot to cold deserts, from boreal forest to grasslands. Site elevation ranges from below sea level (Death Valley, USA) to 4,800 m. Mean annual temperature (MAT) ranges from 216.5 8C to 27.5 8C; mean annual rainfall (MAR) ranges from 133 to 5,300 mm per year. This cove...

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“…First, the leaf area index (LAI) of the tower footprint calculated using the initial model's allometric parameterization was 6.5, substantially higher than the LAI of 4 measured in the tower footprint. This discrepancy was corrected by modifying the leaf area-DBH relationships for early and midsuccessional hardwoods (Table 3) to match the empirical allometry estimates of Ter-Mikaelian and Korzukhin [1997] and Villar and Merino [2001]. These yield an LAI of 4.05 for the tower footprint, closely matching the observed LAI.…”

Section: Model Reformulationmentioning

confidence: 99%

Mechanistic scaling of ecosystem function and dynamics in space and time: Ecosystem Demography model version 2

et al. 2009

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[1] Insights into how terrestrial ecosystems affect the Earth's response to changes in climate and rising atmospheric CO 2 levels rely heavily on the predictions of terrestrial biosphere models (TBMs). These models contain detailed mechanistic representations of biological processes affecting terrestrial ecosystems; however, their ability to simultaneously predict field-based measurements of terrestrial vegetation dynamics and carbon fluxes has remained largely untested. In this study, we address this issue by developing a constrained implementation of a new structured TBM, the Ecosystem Demography model version 2 (ED2), which explicitly tracks the dynamics of fine-scale ecosystem structure and function. Carbon and water flux measurements from an eddy-flux tower are used in conjunction with forest inventory measurements of tree growth and mortality at Harvard Forest (42.5°N, 72.1°W) to estimate a number of important but weakly constrained model parameters. Evaluation against a decade of tower flux and forest dynamics measurements shows that the constrained ED2 model yields greatly improved predictions of annual net ecosystem productivity, carbon partitioning, and growth and mortality dynamics of both hardwood and conifer trees. The generality of the model formulation is then evaluated by comparing the model's predictions against measurements from two other eddy-flux towers and forest inventories of the northeastern United States and Quebec. Despite the markedly different composition throughout this region, the optimized model realistically predicts observed patterns of carbon fluxes and tree growth. These results demonstrate how TBMs parameterized with field-based measurements can provide quantitative insight into the underlying biological processes governing ecosystem composition, structure, and function at larger scales.

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Comparison of leaf construction costs in woody species with differing leaf life‐spans in contrasting ecosystems

Cited by 211 publications

References 54 publications

Fossil leaf economics quantified: calibration, Eocene case study, and implications

Fossil leaf economics quantified: calibration, Eocene case study, and implications

The worldwide leaf economics spectrum

Mechanistic scaling of ecosystem function and dynamics in space and time: Ecosystem Demography model version 2

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