Leaf traits and herbivory on deciduous and evergreen trees in a tropical dry forest

Silva, Jhonathan O.; Espírito-Santo, Mário M.; Morais, H.

doi:10.1016/j.baae.2015.02.005

Cited by 52 publications

(34 citation statements)

References 34 publications

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“…In recent years, many studies attempted using leaf functional traits to predict plant responses in different ecosystems, such as tropical dry forest ecosystems (Silva, Espírito-Santo, & Morais, 2015); subtropical forest ecosystems (Costa-Saura, Martínez-Vilalta, Trabucco, Spano, & Mereu, 2016;Valera-Burgos, Zunzunegui, & Díaz-Barradas, 2013); temperate forest ecosystems (Ali et al, 2016;Li, Pei, Kéry, Niklaus, & Schmid, 2017); and desert steppe (Liu, Zeng, Lee, Fan, & Zhong, 2008). Through these studies, we can conclude that leaf trait variation is very closely related to their functional adaptation strategies of species that allow them to perform under the environmental conditions prevailing in their habitat.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Effects of forest types on leaf functional traits and their interrelationships of Pinus massoniana coniferous and broad‐leaved mixed forests in the subtropical mountain, Southeastern China

Qin

Shangguan

2019

Ecology and Evolution

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Leaf functional traits are widely used to detect and explain adaptations that enable plants to live under various environmental conditions. This study aims to determine the difference in leaf functional traits among four forest types of Pinus massoniana coniferous and broad‐leaved mixed forests by leaf morphological, nutrients, and stoichiometric traits in the subtropical mountain, Southeastern China. Our study indicated that the evergreen conifer species of P. massoniana had higher leaf dry matter content (LDMC), leaf C content, C/N and C/P ratios, while the three deciduous broad‐leaved species of L. formosana, Q. tissima, and P. strobilacea had higher specific leaf area (SLA), leaf N, leaf P nutrient contents, and N/P ratio in the three mixed forest types. The results showed that the species of P. massoniana has adapted to the nutrient‐poor environment by increasing their leaf dry matter for higher construction costs thereby reducing water loss and reflects a resource conservation strategy. In contrast, the three species of L. formosana, Q. tissima, and P. strobilacea exhibited an optimized resource acquisition strategy rather than resource conservation strategy in the subtropical mountain of southeastern China. Regarding the four forest types, the three mixed forest types displayed increased plant leaf nutrient contents when compared to the pure P. massoniana forest, especially the P. massoniana–L. formosana mixed forest type (PLM). Overall, variation in leaf functional traits among different forest types may play an adaptive role in the successful survival of plants under diverse environments because leaf functional traits can lead to significant effects on leaf function, especially for their acquisition of nutrients and use of light. The results of this study are beneficial to reveal the changes in plant leaf functional traits at the regional scale, which will provide a foundation for predicting changes in leaf traits and adaptation in the future environment.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Effects of forest types on leaf functional traits and their interrelationships of Pinus massoniana coniferous and broad‐leaved mixed forests in the subtropical mountain, Southeastern China

Qin

Shangguan

2019

Ecology and Evolution

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“…The relationships between leaf lifespan and plant growth and defense strategies was noted approximately three decades ago (Coley et al 1985, Coley 1987, but the way in which herbivory varies with leaf lifespan has rarely been tested explicitly (Pearse and Karban 2013). Previous studies have found positive (Loranger et al 2012), negative (Silva et al 2015), and no relationships (Kozlov et al 2015a) between leaf lifespan and herbivory. However, to predict herbivory, all of these studies used leaf lifespan categories (e.g., deciduous and evergreen) rather than the value of the leaf lifespan for each species.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

The association of leaf lifespan and background insect herbivory at the interspecific level

Zhang

2017

Ecology

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Herbivory is well known to be a major selective pressure that affects plant communities, but the leaf traits that mediate variations in herbivory at the interspecific level remain controversial. We collected published data on background insect herbivory and leaf traits from a wide variety of species to test the hypothesis that species with intermediate leaf lifespans, lower fiber, and higher nutrient contents in leaves should have higher levels of herbivory. We found that at the interspecific level herbivory had a hump-shaped relationship with leaf lifespan and a positive relationship with leaf size. Surprisingly, our data show that nutritional traits have little relationship to herbivory. Our study provides new insights relevant to the recent debate on leaf trait-herbivory relationships. These findings are especially helpful in explaining the general patterns of herbivory detected on the global scale.

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“…Alternatively, anticipation of bud break, but not leaf expansion, can ensure that the ontogenetic stage of leaves that herbivores prefer most (Coley & Barone ), and which possesses fewer defences (Kursar & Coley ; Silva et al . ), occurs at a time when populations of herbivorous insects are scarcely abundant (Morais et al . ; Hopkins & Memmott ).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…2), where the anticipation of bud break has been recorded, it does not appear that the anticipated bud break of juveniles of the nonstem-succulent species recorded here guarantees significant carbon gain due to shade escape, unlike what has been observed in seasonal temperate forests. Alternatively, anticipation of bud break, but not leaf expansion, can ensure that the ontogenetic stage of leaves that herbivores prefer most (Coley & Barone 1996), and which possesses fewer defences (Kursar & Coley 2003;Silva et al 2015), occurs at a time when populations of herbivorous insects are scarcely abundant (Morais et al 1999;Hopkins & Memmott 2003). In addition, synchronisation with adults would cause juveniles to experience an even greater risk because of their proximity to the reproductive trees that serve as aggregation points for herbivores and pathogens (Janzen 1970;Connell 1971).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Differences in leaf phenology between juvenile and adult individuals of two tree species in a seasonally dry tropical woodland

Souza

Costa

2019

Austral Ecology

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In temperate forests, juvenile trees anticipate leaf phenology compared to adults, thus avoiding shading and herbivory. This is also expected to occur in seasonal tropical forests due to intense herbivory and shading during the rainy season; however, the anticipation of leaf phenology by juveniles in seasonal tropical forests has yet to be demonstrated. Stem‐succulent species are expected to be prone to juvenile phenological anticipation because these species are able to use water stored in their stems for leaf flushing in the dry season. We investigated this hypothesis by comparing leaf phenology (bud break, leaf expansion) of juveniles and adults of two species with contrasting wood densities in the transition between dry and rainy seasons in a tropical dry woodland. We also investigated the level of light limitation that juveniles experience in the rainy season. Both species exhibited bud break during the dry season, but only expanded their leaves with the occurrence of the first rains. In general, the stem‐succulent species had a more precocious bud break; however, anticipation by juveniles occurred only in the species with more dense wood. Canopy openness was lower than in temperate deciduous forests, but the fact that the full expansion of leaves occurred only with rainfall indicates that bud break in anticipation of canopy closure contributes only to keeping leaf photosynthetic balance from going negative, and not to higher carbon gain. The importance of anticipated budding for escaping herbivory remains an alternative explanation in need of investigation.

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Leaf traits and herbivory on deciduous and evergreen trees in a tropical dry forest

Cited by 52 publications

References 34 publications

Effects of forest types on leaf functional traits and their interrelationships of Pinus massoniana coniferous and broad‐leaved mixed forests in the subtropical mountain, Southeastern China

Effects of forest types on leaf functional traits and their interrelationships of Pinus massoniana coniferous and broad‐leaved mixed forests in the subtropical mountain, Southeastern China

The association of leaf lifespan and background insect herbivory at the interspecific level

Differences in leaf phenology between juvenile and adult individuals of two tree species in a seasonally dry tropical woodland

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