Shifts and plasticity of plant leaf mass per area and leaf size among slope aspects in a subalpine meadow

Photosynthetic traits of the evergreen broadleafed species Camellia japonica L. and Quercus glauca Thunb. were continuously investigated during autumn and winter using saplings that grew in different light environments (gap, deciduous canopy understory, and evergreen canopy understory) in a temperate forest. Light-saturated rates of net photosynthesis in midwinter and spring were lower than those in autumn. Photosynthetic capacity, scaled to a common leaf temperature of 25 °C, increased or remained stable after autumn and then decreased in spring in most leaves. Photosynthetic traits per unit leaf area were different among leaves in different light environments of both Camellia and Quercus during most periods. However, photosynthetic traits per unit leaf mass did not differ among leaves in different light environments, suggesting that differences in photosynthetic traits were mainly due to different leaf mass per area among leaves. Photosynthetic rates under light availability typical in the environment were lower in winter than in autumn in leaves in the sun in a gap but were not different in leaves in the shade under evergreen canopy trees. Thus, the importance of winter carbon gain for annual carbon gain is small in leaves in a gap but is large in leaves under evergreen canopy trees.

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Recruitment drives successional changes in the community-level leaf mass per area in a winter-deciduous broad-leaf forest

Journal of Vegetation Science ◽

10.1111/jvs.12660 ◽

2018 ◽

Vol 29 (4) ◽

pp. 756-764

Author(s):

Satoshi N. Suzuki ◽

Toshihide Hirao

Keyword(s):

Community Level ◽

Leaf Mass Per Area ◽

Leaf Mass ◽

Broad Leaf

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Convergence towards higher leaf mass per area in dry and nutrient‐poor habitats has different consequences for leaf life span

Journal of Ecology ◽

10.1046/j.1365-2745.2002.00689.x ◽

2002 ◽

Vol 90 (3) ◽

pp. 534-543 ◽

Cited By ~ 238

Author(s):

Ian J. Wright ◽

Mark Westoby ◽

Peter B. Reich

Keyword(s):

Life Span ◽

Leaf Mass Per Area ◽

Leaf Life Span ◽

Leaf Mass

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Enriched nutrient availability strengthens the net C uptake of the northernmost ecosystem station in Greenland

10.5194/egusphere-egu2020-11024 ◽

2020 ◽

Author(s):

Efrén López-Blanco ◽

Marcin Jackowicz-Korczynski ◽

Mikhail Mastepanov ◽

Kirstine Skov ◽

Andreas Westergaard-Nielsen ◽

...

Keyword(s):

The Arctic ◽

Leaf Mass Per Area ◽

Sink Strength ◽

Sampling Point ◽

Arctic Ecosystems ◽

Ancillary Data ◽

Area Index ◽

Leaf Mass ◽

C Cycle ◽

C Stocks

Although the Arctic tundra is an essential contributor to the global carbon (C) cycle, there is a lack of reference sites from where full C exchange dynamics can be characterized under harsh conditions and remoteness. The Greenland Ecosystem Monitoring (GEM) programme efforts have envisioned integrated and long-term activities to contribute to the basic scientific understanding of the Arctic and their responses to climate changes. Here we present 20+ years across the 2008-2018 period of C flux and ancillary data from two twin ecosystem stations in Greenland: Zackenberg (74&#176;N) and Kobbefjord (64&#176;N). In this project we show that Zackenberg fen has a significant higher C sink strength in a higher latitude during regularly shorter growing seasons compared to Kobbefjord fen. This ecosystem acted as a sink of CO2 uptaking on average -50 g C m-2 (range of +21 to -90 g C m-2), more than twice compared to Kobbefjord (-18 g C m-2 as average and range of +41 to -41 g C m-2). We found that Zackenberg is a nutrient richer fen - the increased C uptake strength is associated with 3 times higher levels in soils of dissolved organic carbon and 5 times more plant nutrients, including dissolved organic nitrogen, nitrates. Additional evidences from in-situ sampling point to higher leaf area index (140%), foliar nitrogen (71%), and leaf mass per area (5%) in the northernmost site supporting the nutrient richer hypothesis. To test this overarching hypothesis, we further used the Soil-Plant-Atmosphere (SPA) model. We can explain ~68%, ~80% and ~67% of the variability of daily net ecosystem exchange of CO2, photosynthesis and respiration respectively applying the model parameterization previously used in Kobbefjord but with increases in initial C stocks, leaf mass per area, N content and Q10 of foliar and root respiration rates. Therefore, we conclude that the limitations of plant phenology timing in Zackenberg regarding net C uptake have not only been counterbalanced but also intensified due to richer compositions of nutrients and minerals. More high-temporal monitoring activities in Arctic ecosystems are needed not only to allow straightforward comparisons of key biogeochemical processes but also to help us understand the underlying differences in sensitive and rapidly changing ecosystems.

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Relative importance of overstory canopy openness and seedling density on crown morphology and growth of Acer nipponicum seedlings

Botany ◽

10.1139/b2012-079 ◽

2012 ◽

Vol 90 (11) ◽

pp. 1152-1160 ◽

Cited By ~ 2

Author(s):

Waka Saito ◽

Koji Kawamura ◽

Hiroshi Takeda

Keyword(s):

Leaf Area ◽

Mass Fraction ◽

Leaf Size ◽

Adaptive Plasticity ◽

Canopy Openness ◽

Seedling Density ◽

Seedling Morphology ◽

Area Index ◽

Leaf Mass ◽

Leaf Mass Fraction

We investigated the effects of overstory canopy openness and seedling density on seedling morphology and growth in the mid-successional species Acer nipponicum Hara in a cool-temperate forest. Studied seedlings were 46 seedlings of 30–160 cm height, and their overstory canopy openness ranged between 7.2% and 17.0%. Seedling density, measured as the number of conspecific neighboring seedlings within a 50 cm radius of the target seedling, ranged between 0 and 19. There were no significant correlations between seedling height, canopy openness, and seedling density. Multiple regression analysis showed that crown depth, leaf mass fraction, and leaf area index decreased with decreasing canopy openness and increasing seedling density, while the ratio of trunk-lateral branches mass increased. Overstory canopy openness did not affect crown area, leaf size, or petiole length, all of which decreased with increasing seedling density. Standardized regression coefficients indicated that seedling density affected morphology and growth more than canopy openness did. The morphological responses to canopy openness cannot be considered as adaptive plasticity, as total leaf area and leaf mass fraction decreased with decreasing light levels. In contrast, responses to seedling density indicate adaptive responses to neighborhood competition. The results highlight the importance of seedling density that influenced seedling growth and morphology independently of overstory canopy openness.

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