Stem Architectural Effect on Leaf Size, Leaf Number, and Leaf Mass Fraction in Plant Twigs of Woody Species

Fang, F.; Wu, Ning; Sun, Shucun

doi:10.1086/605114

Cited by 17 publications

(18 citation statements)

References 30 publications

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“…It follows therefore that M L ∞ M S , a proportionality that has been empirically demonstrated (e.g. Niklas 2004; Sun et al 2006; Xiang et al 2009). Furthermore, the maximum twig leaf growth in mass must be proportional to the product of maximum individual leaf mass and leaf number ( N L ), and be presentative of stem maximum resource support on twigs, i.e.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 60%

“…Understanding variations of the critical functional traits of current-year shoots (twigs) is crucial to the study of plant life history strategies because the first-year production of new stems and leaves influences subsequent growth (Westoby et al 2002; Westoby and Wright 2003; Sun et al 2006; Xiang et al 2009; Yan et al 2013). Among the most critical traits of twigs is the relationship between leaf size and number because this relationship has metabolic and mechanical consequences that influence leaf energy balances and carbon uptake at the whole plant level (Kleiman and Aarssen 2007; Ogawa 2008; Milla 2009; Dombroskie and Aarssen 2012; Huang et al 2015).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Stem and leaf growth rates define the leaf size vs. number trade-off

et al. 2019

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The trade-off between leaf number and individual leaf size on current-year shoots (twigs) is crucial to light interception and thus net carbon gain. However, a theoretical basis for understanding this trade-off remains elusive. Here, we argue that this trade-off emerges directly from the relationship between annual growth in leaf and stem mass, a hypothesis that predicts that maximum individual leaf size (i.e. leaf mass, Mmax, or leaf area, Amax) will scale negatively and isometrically with leafing intensity (i.e. leaf number per unit stem mass, per unit stem volume or per stem cross-sectional area). We tested this hypothesis by analysing the twigs of 64 species inhabiting three different forest communities along an elevation gradient using standardized major axis (SMA) analyses. Across species, maximum individual leaf size (Mmax, Amax) scaled isometrically with respect to leafing intensity; the scaling constants between maximum leaf size and leafing intensity (based on stem cross-sectional area) differed significantly among the three forests. Therefore, our hypothesis successfully predicts a scaling relationship between maximum individual leaf size and leafing intensity, and provides a general explanation for the leaf size-number trade-off as a consequence of mechanical-hydraulic constraints on stem and leaf growth per year.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 60%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Stem and leaf growth rates define the leaf size vs. number trade-off

et al. 2019

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“…From this viewpoint, the effects of tree allometry and biomass allocation on growth at the tree level have been investigated in a simulation model (King 2005), but the effects of shoot traits on height growth have not been considered in detail. Recent studies have related differences in biomass allocation and shoot allometry to height growth strategies of species (Falster & Westoby 2005) and to environmental factors such as water stress and altitude (Preston & Ackerly 2003; Westoby & Wright 2003; Sun, Jin & Shi 2006; Xiang et al. 2009).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Height-dependent changes in shoot structure and tree allometry in relation to maximum height in four deciduous tree species

Osada

2011

Functional Ecology

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Summary1. Tree allometry often varies among coexisting species of different maximum height (H max ) in forests. Although shoot growth patterns directly influence overall tree architecture, the structures of current-year shoots at the tops of crowns have not been directly related to differences in tree allometry across species. 2. I investigated height-dependent changes in structure and biomass allocation patterns in current-year shoots of four coexisting tree species differing in H max in a cool-temperate forest in Japan. The relative importance of total biomass, biomass allocation, shoot allometry, and shoot angle to vertical growth was quantified and compared with tree allometry. 3. Height-dependent changes in total biomass of current-year shoots varied across species. In contrast, stem length per unit mass, shoot angle, and total leaf area per unit stem cross-sectional area decreased, and leaf mass per unit area increased with height in all species. Vertical growth rate consequently declined with increasing height in all species. Sensitivity analyses revealed that the primary determinant of declining vertical growth rate was change in stem length per unit mass; shoot angle was a secondary determinant. In contrast, increases in total shoot mass with height modulated declining vertical growth rates. 4. Vertical growth rate was greater in two canopy species than in two sub-canopy species at given heights at the shoot level, and this pattern coincided with allometry between tree height and trunk diameter. In contrast, vertical growth rate was greater in sub-canopy species than in canopy species near their maximum heights. These patterns suggest that allometric differences between species may be useful for evaluating crown-development patterns, but not for estimating H max of species.

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“…Assuming an invariant bulk tissue density, twig stem mass will scale as the cube of either diameter or length (i.e., M S ∝ D 3 ∝ L 3 ). However, Xiang and Liu (2009b) report that L may be uncorrelated with stem diameter ( D ) due to phylogenetic reasons at twigs level. Therefore, whether leaf biomass scale as the cube of stem diameter at the twig level remains unclear.…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Stem Diameter (and Not Length) Limits Twig Leaf Biomass

et al. 2019

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The relationship between leaf and stem biomass as well as the relationship between leaf biomass and stem length and diameter are important to our understanding of a broad range of important plant scaling relationship because of their relationship to photosynthesis and thus growth. To understand how twig architecture (i.e., current year leaves, and stem diameter and length) affects stem diameter and length, and leaf number and biomass, we examined the twigs of 64 woody species collected from three forest types along an elevational gradient in the Wuyi Mountains, Jiangxi Province, China. We also compared the scaling relationships we observed with biomass allocation patterns reported at the whole tree level. Our results revealed isometric relationship between leaf and stem biomass on twigs despite differences in forest communities and despite changes in environmental factors along an elevational gradient. Across the 64 species, from twigs to individual trees, leaf biomass scaled approximately as the 2.0-power of stem diameter (but not for stem length or leaf number). These results help to identify a general rule that operates at two different levels of biological organization (twigs and whole trees). The scaling relationship between leaf biomass and stem diameter in twigs is insensitive to differences in species composition, elevation, or forest type. We speculate that this rule emerges because stem diameter serves as a proxy for the amount of resources supplied per unit cross section to developing leaves and for the flow of photosynthates from mature leaves to the rest of the plant body.

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Stem Architectural Effect on Leaf Size, Leaf Number, and Leaf Mass Fraction in Plant Twigs of Woody Species

Cited by 17 publications

References 30 publications

Stem and leaf growth rates define the leaf size vs. number trade-off

Stem and leaf growth rates define the leaf size vs. number trade-off

Height-dependent changes in shoot structure and tree allometry in relation to maximum height in four deciduous tree species

Stem Diameter (and Not Length) Limits Twig Leaf Biomass

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