scholarly journals FUNDAMENTAL TRADE-OFFS GENERATING THE WORLDWIDE LEAF ECONOMICS SPECTRUM

Ecology ◽  
2006 ◽  
Vol 87 (3) ◽  
pp. 535-541 ◽  
Author(s):  
Bill Shipley ◽  
Martin J. Lechowicz ◽  
Ian Wright ◽  
Peter B. Reich
Keyword(s):  
Leaf Economics Spectrum ◽  
Trade Offs ◽  
Leaf Economics

scholarly journals The leaf economics spectrum’s morning coffee: plant size-dependent changes in leaf traits and reproductive onset in a perennial tree crop

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Adam R Martin ◽  
Marney E Isaac
Keyword(s):  
Environmental Conditions ◽  
Plant Traits ◽  
Leaf Traits ◽  
Plant Size ◽  
Leaf Economics Spectrum ◽  
Size Dependent ◽  
Leaf Mass ◽  
Trade Offs ◽  
Reproductive Onset ◽  
Leaf Economics

Abstract Background and Aims Size-dependent changes in plant traits are an important source of intraspecific trait variation. However, there are few studies that have tested if leaf trait co-variation and/or trade-offs follow a within-genotype leaf economics spectrum (LES) related to plant size and reproductive onset. To our knowledge, there are no studies on any plant species that have tested whether or not the shape of a within-genotype LES that describes how traits covary across whole plant sizes, is the same as the shape of a within-genotype LES that represents environmentally driven trait plasticity. Methods We quantified size-dependent variation in eight leaf traits in a single coffee genotype (Coffea arabica var. Caturra) in managed agroecosystems with different environmental conditions (light and fertilization treatments), and evaluated these patterns with respect to reproductive onset. We also evaluated if trait covariation along a within-genotype plant-size LES differed from a within-genotype environmental LES defined with trait data from coffee growing in different environmental conditions. Key Results Leaf economics traits related to resource acquisition – maximum photosynthetic rates (A) and mass-based leaf nitrogen (N) concentrations – declined linearly with plant size. Structural traits – leaf mass, leaf thickness, and leaf mass per unit area (LMA) – and leaf area increased with plant size beyond reproductive onset, then declined in larger plants. Three primary LES traits (mass-based A, leaf N and LMA) covaried across a within-genotype plant-size LES, with plants moving towards the ‘resource-conserving’ end of the LES as they grow larger; in coffee these patterns were nearly identical to a within-genotype environmental LES. Conclusions Our results demonstrate that a plant-size LES exists within a single genotype. Our findings indicate that in managed agroecosystems where resource availability is high the role of reproductive onset in driving within-genotype trait variability, and the strength of covariation and trade-offs among LES traits, are less pronounced compared with plants in natural systems. The consistency in trait covariation in coffee along both plant-size and environmental LES axes indicates strong constraints on leaf form and function that exist within plant genotypes.

scholarly journals Overwintering evergreen oaks reverse typical relationships between leaf traits in a species spectrum

2016 ◽  
Vol 3 (7) ◽  
pp. 160276 ◽  
Author(s):  
Hisanori Harayama ◽  
Atsushi Ishida ◽  
Jin Yoshimura
Keyword(s):  
Leaf Traits ◽  
Global Scale ◽  
Carbon Gain ◽  
Leaf Mass Per Area ◽  
Nitrogen Allocation ◽  
Leaf Economics Spectrum ◽  
Trade Offs ◽  
Almost All ◽  
Leaf Economics ◽  
Evergreen Oaks

The leaf economics spectrum has given us a fundamental understanding of the species variations in leaf variables. Across plant species, tight correlations among leaf mass per area (LMA), mass-based nitrogen ( N m ) and photosynthetic rate ( A m ) and leaf lifespan have been well known as trade-offs in leaf carbon economy. However, the regional or biome-level correlations may not be necessary to correspond with the global-scale analysis. Here, we show that almost all leaf variables in overwintering evergreen oaks in Japan were relatively well included within the evergreen-broadleaved trees in worldwide temperate forests, but N m was more consistent with that in deciduous broadleaved trees. Contrary to the universal correlations, the correlation between A m and N m among the evergreen oaks was negative and the correlation between A m and LMA disappeared. The unique performance was due to specific nitrogen allocation within leaves, i.e. the evergreen oaks with later leaf maturation had lower N m but higher nitrogen allocation to photosynthetic enzymes within leaves, to enhance carbon gain against the delayed leaf maturation and the shortened photosynthetic period due to cold winters. Our data demonstrate that correlations between leaf variables in a local scale are occasionally different from averaged global-scale datasets, because of the constraints in each biome.

scholarly journals Large-scale climatic and geophysical controls on the leaf economics spectrum

2016 ◽  
Vol 113 (28) ◽  
pp. E4043-E4051 ◽  
Author(s):  
Gregory P. Asner ◽  
David E. Knapp ◽  
Christopher B. Anderson ◽  
Roberta E. Martin ◽  
Nicholas Vaughn
Keyword(s):  
Large Scale ◽  
Plant Traits ◽  
Imaging Spectroscopy ◽  
Leaf Mass Per Area ◽  
Leaf Economics Spectrum ◽  
Leaf Trait ◽  
Trade Offs ◽  
Airborne Imaging ◽  
Spatially Explicit Data ◽  
Leaf Economics

Leaf economics spectrum (LES) theory suggests a universal trade-off between resource acquisition and storage strategies in plants, expressed in relationships between foliar nitrogen (N) and phosphorus (P), leaf mass per area (LMA), and photosynthesis. However, how environmental conditions mediate LES trait interrelationships, particularly at large biospheric scales, remains unknown because of a lack of spatially explicit data, which ultimately limits our understanding of ecosystem processes, such as primary productivity and biogeochemical cycles. We used airborne imaging spectroscopy and geospatial modeling to generate, to our knowledge, the first biospheric maps of LES traits, here centered on 76 million ha of Andean and Amazonian forest, to assess climatic and geophysical determinants of LES traits and their interrelationships. Elevation and substrate were codominant drivers of leaf trait distributions. Multiple additional climatic and geophysical factors were secondary determinants of plant traits. Anticorrelations between N and LMA followed general LES theory, but topo-edaphic conditions strongly mediated and, at times, eliminated this classic relationship. We found no evidence for simple P–LMA or N–P trade-offs in forest canopies; rather, we mapped a continuum of N–P–LMA interactions that are sensitive to elevation and temperature. Our results reveal nested climatic and geophysical filtering of LES traits and their interrelationships, with important implications for predictions of forest productivity and acclimation to rapid climate change.

scholarly journals Digging into the roots: understanding direct and indirect drivers of ecosystem service trade-offs in coastal grasslands via plant functional traits

2021 ◽  
Vol 193 (S1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Miguel A. Cebrián-Piqueras ◽  
Juliane Trinogga ◽  
Anastasia Trenkamp ◽  
Vanessa Minden ◽  
Martin Maier ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Land Use ◽  
Functional Traits ◽  
Environmental Gradients ◽  
Plant Functional Traits ◽  
Forage Production ◽  
Trade Off ◽  
Leaf Economics Spectrum ◽  
Ecosystem Properties ◽  
Trade Offs ◽  
Leaf Economics

AbstractRecent empirical and theoretical approaches have called for an understanding of the processes underpinning ecosystem service provision. Environmental gradients have shown effects on key plant functional traits that subsequently explain ecosystem properties of several systems. However, little is known concerning how associations between plant functional traits, including both below- and aboveground plant components, predict ecosystem properties and independently measured final ecosystem services. Here, we modeled (1) the responses of the leaf and plant economics spectrum, Plant size axis, and root growth to environmental gradients and (2) how associations between plant functional traits explain trade-offs and synergies between multiple ecosystem properties and final services. Forty-four plots were studied in a coastal marsh landscape of the German North Sea Coast. We used a partial least square structural equation model approach to test the hypothesized model. We found (1) a negative covariation between plant traits pertaining to a size axis and traits explaining both plant growth (roots and stems) and the leaf economics spectrum; (2) this trade-off responded significantly to the land use gradient and nutrient availability, which were both strongly driven by the groundwater gradient; (3) this trade-off explained an initial major trade-off between carbon stocks, at one extreme of the axis, and both the habitat value to conserve endangered plants and forage production for meat and dairy products at the other extreme. However, a secondary trade-off between nature conservation value and forage production, explained by a trade-off between leaf economics spectrum and plant growth in response to the land use intensity gradient, was also found.

Biogeographic constraints on the world-wide leaf economics spectrum

2012 ◽  
Vol 21 (12) ◽  
pp. 1137-1146 ◽  
Author(s):  
J. Mason Heberling ◽  
Jason D. Fridley
Keyword(s):  
World Wide ◽  
Leaf Economics Spectrum ◽  
The World ◽  
Leaf Economics

scholarly journals Functional ecology of congeneric variation in the leaf economics spectrum

2019 ◽  
Vol 225 (1) ◽  
pp. 196-208 ◽  
Author(s):  
Wenli Ji ◽  
Stefanie E. LaZerte ◽  
Marcia J. Waterway ◽  
Martin J. Lechowicz
Keyword(s):  
Functional Ecology ◽  
Leaf Economics Spectrum ◽  
Leaf Economics
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