Leaf Life‐Span in Relation to Leaf, Plant, and Stand Characteristics among Diverse Ecosystems

Reich, Peter B.; Walters, Michael B.; Ellsworth, David S.

doi:10.2307/2937116

Cited by 1,453 publications

(1,401 citation statements)

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“…Species with high LMA tend to have long average leaf life span and slow photosynthetic rates (Field and Mooney, 1986;Niinemets, 1999). Mass based assimilation decreases with increasing leaf life span (which is reciprocal to deciduousness duration, as in our study) and LMA (Prior et al, 2003;Reich et al, 1992). Decrease in LMA is associated with increased water content resulting in small fraction of dry matter (Roderick, 2000).…”

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 50%

“…Wood density along with LMA and resource use (photosynthesis) rate may significantly relate to the extent of deciduousness (which is reciprocal to leaf longevity) in tropical trees because all these characteristics are closely related to leaf longevity (Reich et al, 1997). Due to increased stem wood density and LMA, tree species tend to have longer average leaf life span and slower growth rate (Reich et al, 1992;Wright et al, 2005).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Diversity of deciduousness and phenological traits of key Indian dry tropical forest trees

et al. 2010

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Keywords:tropical dry forests / deciduousness / wood density / leaf mass per area / leaf strategy index Abstract • In seasonally dry tropical forests deciduousness (leaflessness) is an important strategy of trees to survive in water stress period during summer. Deciduousness is a reflection of interacted effect of seasonal drought, tree characteristics and soil moisture conditions.• The present study aims to document the diversity in leaf pheno-phases in terms of duration of deciduousness (which is reciprocal to growing season length), wood density, leaf mass per area (LMA) and leaf strategy index in 24 important tree species growing in the Vindhyan dry tropical forest in India.• On the basis of phenological observations, the tree species were categorized into two main groups: leaf exchanging species exhibiting overlapping periods of leaf fall and leaf flush, and deciduous species whose timings of leaf flush and leaf fall differ resulting in a time lag (deciduousness) between the completion of leaf fall and initiation of leaf flush. Presence of wide range of deciduousness duration (from ca. a week to 7 months) among dry tropical trees indicates large variations in their growing season length. In the tree species studied, as the duration of deciduousness increased, leaf flushing period decreased significantly but leaf fall period showed little variation.• Differing deciduousness in tree species exhibited substantial differences in their leafing (vegetative growth) pattern, as reflected by ratio of durations of leaf flush to leaf fall (leaf strategy index). Across different species, duration of deciduousness was significantly positively correlated with leaf strategy index, and significantly negatively correlated with both wood density and LMA.• Wide variations in deciduousness, leaf strategy index, wood density and LMA in the 24 species investigated indicate considerable functional diversity in tree species growing in Vindhyan dry tropical region. Variation in seasonal duration of deciduousness among species is reflections of differences in tree functional traits like stem wood density, leaf strategy index and LMA. Mots-clés :forêts tropicales sèches / défoliation / densité du bois / masse de feuilles par unité de surface / index de stratégie de la feuille Résumé -La diversité des défoliations et les traits phénologiques d'arbres clés de la forêt sèche tropicale indienne.• Dans les forêts sèches tropicales saisonnières, la défoliation est une stratégie importante des arbres pour survivre dans les périodes de stress hydrique durant l'été. La défoliation est un reflet de l'interaction entre la sécheresse saisonnière, les caractéristiques des arbres et les conditions d'humidité du sol.• La présente étude vise à documenter la diversité des phénophases des feuilles en termes, de durée de la défoliation (qui est réciproque à la durée de la saison de croissance), de densité du bois, de masse foliaire par unité de surface (LMA) et d'indice de stratégie des feuilles chez 24 importantes espèces d'arbres poussant dans la for...

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Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 50%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Diversity of deciduousness and phenological traits of key Indian dry tropical forest trees

et al. 2010

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“…Additionally, many of these global proxies reflect multiple aspects of organisms function, which can show distinct and even opposing responses to environmental drivers. This implies that a set of traits that best explains response to environmental factors in large scales are not always the best under local nutrient availability (Reich et al 1992;Wright et al 2004;Chave et al 2009), or good indicators of plant species defense against herbivory and plant effects on litter decomposition (Cornelissen et al 1999). Due to the successful explanation of global patterns of trait variation and the relatively easy measurements, some functional traits have become widely used.…”

Section: Can We Afford Fashion In the Choice Of Traits?mentioning

confidence: 99%

Going Back to Basics: Importance of Ecophysiology when Choosing Functional Traits for Studying Communities and Ecosystems

Rosado¹,

Dias²,

Mattos³

2013

NatCon

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Striking progress has been made on conceptual and methodological aspects linking species traits to community and ecosystem responses to environmental change. However, the first step when using a trait-based approach (i.e., choosing the adequate traits reflecting species response to a given environmental driver) deserves much more attention. The first broad comparative studies, using worldwide datasets, have identified a number of traits that are, for example, good indicators of plant responses to water and nutrient availability, or good indicators of plant species defense against herbivory and plant effects on litter decomposition. Due to the successful explanation of global patterns of trait variation and the relatively easy measurements, some functional traits have become widely used. However, it is starting to be questioned whether the status of such "fashionable traits" is always justified; especially considering that particular traits might be the result of underlying traits that respond to distinct environmental factors. Some global trade-offs between traits reflecting contrasting resource use strategies do not hold under changing environmental conditions. Therefore, the choice of traits to up-scale responses of individuals to communities and ecosystems should be based on their adequacy for a specified ecological context. Here, we present a framework that helps identifying objective criteria for the choice of functional traits for studies on community assembly and ecosystem processes and services. This framework comprises five steps: 1) identification of the main environmental drivers; 2) identification of the relevant physiological processes allowing species to cope with the environment; 3) selection of traits that are involved in such physiological processes; 4) validation of the select traits at community level and; 5) evaluation of possible consequences for ecosystem processes/services.

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“…Tem-se observado que em várias espécies herbáceas e lenhosas, as baixas densidades do tecido foliar e, por conseguinte, a alta AFE, geralmente acompanha alta TCR (Reich et al 1992). Desta maneira, existe correlação entre crescimento e taxa de expansão da AF e as espécies com alta AFE e alta TCR, aparentemente produzem folhas com baixo investimento em biomassa.…”

Section: Resultsunclassified

“…Além disso, esta espécie investiu menos biomassa na parte aérea e mais biomassa na parte radicular (figura 1F), corroborando as observações realizadas por Cancian & Cordeiro (1998) que mencionam que L. muehlbergianus é uma espécie que se caracteriza por apresentar maior acúmulo de MS nas raízes que na parte aérea. Reich et al (1992) comentam que a razão da massa radicular poderia ser mais um parâmetro de alocação de biomassa relacionada à TCR, mas no presente estudo este parâmetro não foi determinante para que L. muehlbergianus apresentasse a maior TCR, quando comparada com M. peruiferum.…”

Section: Resultsunclassified

Crescimento, eficiência fotossintética e eficiência do uso da água em quatro espécies de leguminosas arbóreas tropicais

Pinzón-Torres

Schiavinato

2008

Hoehnea

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-(Growth, photosynthetic and water use efficiency in four tropical tree legume species of). The series of studies covering variables of growth and photosynthetic parameters helps to clarify the relationship between individuals of a plant community. The objective of this study was to evaluate the growth, photosynthetic and water use efficiency in four legume trees in a period of three months under conditions of a greenhouse. It was observed that Myroxylon peruiferum showed higher values for the rate of relative growth, the ratio of leaf area and the mass leaf and greater leaf specific area, compared with the other three species. But, this species did not presente the highest photosynthetic rate, as consequence of increased investment in leaf area. All species, except Lonchocarpus muehlbergianus showed the same efficiency in the use of water. Although M. peruiferum does not fix atmospheric nitrogen through symbiosis with rhizobia, it seems to be an efficient species to use the nitrogen available in the soil for the production of biomass. Key words: Centrolobium tomentosum, Inga vera, Lonchocarpus muehlbergianus, Myroxylon peruiferumRESUMO -(Crescimento, eficiência fotossintética e eficiência do uso da água em quatro espécies de leguminosas arbóreas tropicais). O conjunto de estudos que abrangem variáveis de crescimento e parâmetros fotossintéticos ajuda a esclarecer as relações entre os indivíduos de uma comunidade vegetal. O objetivo deste trabalho foi avaliar o crescimento, a eficiência fotossintética e a eficiência no uso da água em quatro leguminosas arbóreas, durante três meses, sob condições de casa de vegetação. Foi observado que Myroxylon peruiferum apresentou os maiores valores quanto à taxa de crescimento relativo, razão de área foliar e de massa foliar e maior área foliar específica, quando comparada com as outras três espécies. Porém, não apresentou a maior taxa fotossintética, como consequência do maior investimento em área foliar. Todas as espécies, exceto Lonchocarpus muehlbergianus apresentaram a mesma eficiência do uso da água. Embora M. peruiferum não fixe nitrogênio atmosférico por meio de simbiose com rizóbios, se observou que é uma espécie eficiente para aproveitar o nitrogênio disponível no solo para a produção de biomassa. IntroduçãoNa composição e estrutura das florestas tropicais, as leguminosas apresentam uma alta diversidade de gêneros e espécies (Moreira et al. 1992). Não obstante, estas espécies devem se adaptar morfológica e fisiologicamente às diversas condições ambientais para determinar a sua competitividade dentro da comunidade vegetal.As adaptações morfológicas variam segundo a alocação da biomassa, que pode se manifestar pelo incremento em massa, volume, comprimento ou área das diferentes estruturas da planta, o que é avaliado como crescimento (Gloser & Gloser 1996).Quanto às adaptações fisiológicas, Hall et al. (1993) mencionam que existem quatro fatores relacionados à fotossíntese que influenciam no incremento da biomassa: (i) a quantidade de luz incidente, que é det...

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Leaf Life‐Span in Relation to Leaf, Plant, and Stand Characteristics among Diverse Ecosystems

Cited by 1,453 publications

References 55 publications

Diversity of deciduousness and phenological traits of key Indian dry tropical forest trees

Diversity of deciduousness and phenological traits of key Indian dry tropical forest trees

Going Back to Basics: Importance of Ecophysiology when Choosing Functional Traits for Studying Communities and Ecosystems

Crescimento, eficiência fotossintética e eficiência do uso da água em quatro espécies de leguminosas arbóreas tropicais

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