Specific leaf area and leaf dry matter content as alternative predictors of plant strategies

Wilson, Peter; Thompson, Ken; Hodgson, J.

doi:10.1046/j.1469-8137.1999.00427.x

Cited by 768 publications

(691 citation statements)

References 36 publications

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“…In particular, we expected that species response to the changing light environment that accompanies abandonment of semi-natural grasslands would be related to these leaf traits. We included both SLA and LDMC, as there are indications that LDMC may be a more accurate predictor of resource capture and usage than the more commonly used SLA (Wilson et al 1999). In contrast to life-cycle traits such as clonality and life span, SLA and LDMC were not associated with the response of species after grassland abandonment.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Remnant Populations and Plant Functional Traits in Abandoned Semi-Natural Grasslands

2010

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Although semi-natural grasslands in Europe are declining there is often a time delay in the local extinction of grassland species due to development of remnant populations, i.e., populations with an extended persistence despite a negative growth rate. The objectives of this study were to examine the occurrence of remnant populations after abandonment of semi-natural grasslands and to examine functional traits of plants associated with the development of remnant populations. We surveyed six managed semi-natural grasslands and 20 former semi-natural grasslands where management ceased 60-100 years ago, and assessed species response to abandonment, assuming a space-for-time substitution. The response of species was related to nine traits representing life cycle, clonality, leaf traits, seed dispersal and seed mass. Of the 67 species for which data allowed analysis, 44 species declined after grassland abandonment but still occurred at the sites, probably as remnant populations. Five traits were associated with the response to abandonment. The declining but still occurring species were characterized by high plant height, a perennial life form, possession of a perennial bud bank, high clonal ability, and lack of dispersal attributes promoting long-distance dispersal. Traits allowing plants to maintain populations by utilizing only a part of their life cycle, such as clonal propagation, are most important for the capacity to develop remnant populations and delay local extinction. A considerable fraction of the species inhabiting semi-natural grasslands maintain what is most likely remnant populations after more than 60 years of spontaneous succession from managed semi-natural grasslands to forest.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Remnant Populations and Plant Functional Traits in Abandoned Semi-Natural Grasslands

2010

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“…This is done, for example, when leaf thickness is calculated as the ratio between fresh mass ("volume) and surface area (McMillen & McClendon, 1983 ;Atkin et al, 1996 ;see Sims et al, 1998 for a validation for soybean). Using fresh mass rather than volume has at least two advantages : it is much easier to measure, so easy that it can be routinely incorporated as a standard measure in large-scale comparative experiments (Wilson et al, 1999) ; and it does not imply any hypothesis on the homogeneity of leaf thickness over the whole blade. Whether using one instead of the other is a valid approximation will be examined for the 14 grass species studied here.…”

Section: mentioning

confidence: 99%

Relationships between photosynthesis, nitrogen and leaf structure in 14 grass species and their dependence on the basis of expression

et al. 1999

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The relationships between leaf structure, nitrogen concentration and CO # assimilation rate (A) were studied for 14 grass species grown in the laboratory under non-limiting nutrient conditions. Structural features included leaf thickness and density, and the proportion of leaf volume occupied by different types of tissue (mesophyll, epidermis, vessels and sclerenchyma). Relationships were assessed for data expressed per unit leaf area and fresh mass. The latter was found to be closely related to leaf volume, which allowed us to use A per unit leaf fresh mass (A fm ) as a surrogate of A per unit leaf volume. Assimilation rate per unit leaf area (A a ) was positively correlated with leaf thickness and with the amount of mesophyll per unit leaf area ; the relationship with leaf nitrogen content per unit area was only marginally significant. A fm was negatively correlated with leaf thickness and positively with fresh mass-based leaf organic nitrogen concentration. A multiple regression involving these two variables explained 81% of the variance in A fm . The value of A fm was also significantly related to the proportion of mesophyll in the leaf volume, but surprisingly the correlation was negative. This was because thin leaves with high A fm and nitrogen concentration had proportionally more mechanically supportive tissues than thick ones ; as a consequence, they also had a lower proportion of mesophyll. These data suggest that, in addition to leaf nitrogen, leaf thickness has a strong impact on CO # assimilation rate for the grass species studied.

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“…Espécies decíduas apresentam menor massa foliar específica e maior taxa fotossintética por unidade de massa se comparadas com espécies sempre verdes (Fu et al 2012). Espécies sempre verdes apresentam elevada massa foliar, pois, investem grande parte do carbono assimilado na construção das folhas (Wilson et al 1999). O alto investimento aumenta a resistência à difusão do CO 2 e, consequentemente, reduz a capacidade fotossintética em espécies sempre verdes (Ishida et al 2008).…”

Section: Introductionunclassified

Divergências funcionais e estratégias de resistência à seca entre espécies decíduas e sempre verdes tropicais

et al. 2015

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ResumoAnalisamos a variação funcional entre espécies decíduas (ED) e sempre verdes (ESV) para compreender as divergências nas estratégias de tolerância e evitação à seca. O estudo foi realizado em um fragmento de floresta tropical sazonalmente seca, localizada no munícipio de Pentecoste (3°47'S, 39°16'W), Ceará, Brasil. Mensuramos 17 traços funcionais foliares em 17 ED e cinco ESV, sendo 12 morfofuncionais, um fenológico e quatro fisiológicos. Verificamos que as ED exibiram maior taxa de fotossíntese por massa (A massa ), menor longevidade foliar (LF) e massa foliar específica (MFE) quando comparadas às sempre verdes. Esses traços foram considerados traços-chaves preditores das estratégias de evitação e tolerância à seca. As ED e ESV apresentaram uma demanda conflitante entre tolerância à seca e taxa fotossintética, pois a LF foi negativamente correlacionada com à A massa . Embora tenham demonstrado diferenças claras na MFE e LF não observamos diferenças significativas na A área e g s , consequentemente, ED e ESV não diferiram na eficiência no uso da água durante o período chuvoso. Apesar da variabilidade substancial dentro do grupo, todas as ED exibem estratégia de evitação à seca enquanto que ESV exibem um conjunto de traços funcionais foliares relacionados a estratégia de tolerância à seca. Palavras-chave: Grupos fenológicos, tolerância à seca, evitação à seca. AbstractWe analyzed the functional variation between deciduous and evergreen species to understand the differences across the strategies of avoidance and tolerance to drought. Our study was carried in a fragment of seasonally dry tropical forest located in the city of Pentecoste (3°47'S, 39°16'W), Ceará, Brazil. We measured 17 functional leaf traits in 17 deciduous and five evergreen species, being 12 morphofunctional, one phenological and four physiological. We found that deciduous species exhibited greater A mass , lower leaf lifespan (LL) and leaf mass per area (LMA) than evergreen species. These traits were considered key predictor traits of avoidance and drought tolerance strategies. Deciduous and evergreen species showed a trade-off between drought tolerance and photosynthetic rate, LL was negatively correlated with A mass . Although we have shown clear differences in LMA and LL not observed significant differences in A area and g s , consequently, deciduous species and evergreen species did not find significant differences in WUE i and WUE. Despite substantial variability within the group, all deciduous species fall predominantly in the drought avoidance strategy, while evergreen species display a suite of traits related to drought tolerance.

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Specific leaf area and leaf dry matter content as alternative predictors of plant strategies

Cited by 768 publications

References 36 publications

Remnant Populations and Plant Functional Traits in Abandoned Semi-Natural Grasslands

Remnant Populations and Plant Functional Traits in Abandoned Semi-Natural Grasslands

Relationships between photosynthesis, nitrogen and leaf structure in 14 grass species and their dependence on the basis of expression

Divergências funcionais e estratégias de resistência à seca entre espécies decíduas e sempre verdes tropicais

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