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.

Correlated effects of selection for flower size in Raphanus raphanistrum

2007 ◽  
Vol 85 (2) ◽  
pp. 160-166 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kari Lehtilä ◽  
Kristina Holmén Bränn
Keyword(s):  
Plant Traits ◽  
Plant Size ◽  
Flower Size ◽  
Flowering Plant ◽  
Realized Heritability ◽  
Raphanus Raphanistrum ◽  
Trade Offs ◽  
Vegetative Traits ◽  
Two Generations ◽  
Selection For

The evolution of flower size may be constrained by trade-offs between flower size and other plant traits. The aim of this study was to determine how selection on flower size affects both reproductive and vegetative traits. Raphanus raphanistrum L. was used as the study species. Artificial selection for small and large petal size was carried out for two generations. We measured the realized heritability of flower size and recorded flower production, time to flowering, plant size, and seed production in the two selection lines. The realized heritability was h2 = 0.49. Our study, therefore, showed that R. raphanistrum has potential for rapid evolutionary change of floral size. The lines with large flowers produced smaller seeds and started to flower later than the lines with small flowers. There was no trade-off between flower size and flower number, but the lines selected for large flower size had more flowers and a larger plant size than lines selected for small flowers. Estimates of restricted maximum likelihood (REML) analysis of pedigrees also showed that flower size had a positive genetic correlation with start of flowering and plant height.

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

Relationships among leaf traits of Australian arid zone plants: alternative modes of thermal protection

2012 ◽  
Vol 60 (6) ◽  
pp. 471 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ellen M. Curtis ◽  
Andrea Leigh ◽  
Scott Rayburg
Keyword(s):  
Water Content ◽  
Structural Damage ◽  
Near Infrared ◽  
Thermal Protection ◽  
Arid Zone ◽  
Leaf Traits ◽  
Leaf Mass Per Area ◽  
Leaf Economics Spectrum ◽  
Leaf Trait ◽  
Leaf Mass

Despite the importance of leaf traits that protect against critically high leaf temperatures, relationships among such traits have not been investigated. Further, while some leaf trait relationships are well documented across biomes, little is known about such associations within a biome. This study investigated relationships between nine leaf traits that protect leaves against excessively high temperatures in 95 Australian arid zone species. Seven morphological traits were measured: leaf area, length, width, thickness, leaf mass per area, water content, and an inverse measure of pendulousness. Two spectral properties were measured: reflectance of visible and near-infrared radiation. Three key findings emerged: (1) leaf pendulousness increased with leaf size and leaf mass per area, the former relationship suggesting that pendulousness affords thermal protection when leaves are large; (2) leaf mass per area increased with thickness and decreased with water content, indicating alternative means for protection through increasing thermal mass; (3) spectral reflectance increased with leaf mass per area and thickness and decreased with water content. The consistent co-variation of thermal protective traits with leaf mass per area, a trait not usually associated with thermal protection, suggests that these traits fall along the leaf economics spectrum, with leaf longevity increasing through protection not only against structural damage but also against heat stress.

scholarly journals Testing models for the leaf economics spectrum with leaf and whole-plant traits inArabidopsis thaliana

AoB Plants ◽  
2015 ◽  
Vol 7 ◽  
pp. plv049 ◽  
Author(s):  
Benjamin Blonder ◽  
François Vasseur ◽  
Cyrille Violle ◽  
Bill Shipley ◽  
Brian J. Enquist ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Plant Traits ◽  
Leaf Economics Spectrum ◽  
Whole Plant ◽  
Leaf Economics

scholarly journals Global patterns of the leaf economics spectrum in wetlands

2020 ◽  
Vol 11 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Yingji Pan ◽  
Ellen Cieraad ◽  
Jean Armstrong ◽  
William Armstrong ◽  
Beverley R. Clarkson ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Leaf Traits ◽  
Global Scale ◽  
Wetland Plants ◽  
Leaf Mass Per Area ◽  
Leaf Life Span ◽  
Wetland Ecology ◽  
Plant Strategies ◽  
Nitrogen And Phosphorus ◽  
Leaf Economics Spectrum ◽  
Leaf Economics

Abstract The leaf economics spectrum (LES) describes consistent correlations among a variety of leaf traits that reflect a gradient from conservative to acquisitive plant strategies. So far, whether the LES holds in wetland plants at a global scale has been unclear. Using data on 365 wetland species from 151 studies, we find that wetland plants in general show a shift within trait space along the same common slope as observed in non-wetland plants, with lower leaf mass per area, higher leaf nitrogen and phosphorus, faster photosynthetic rates, and shorter leaf life span compared to non-wetland plants. We conclude that wetland plants tend to cluster at the acquisitive end of the LES. The presented global quantifications of the LES in wetland plants enhance our understanding of wetland plant strategies in terms of resources acquisition and allocation, and provide a stepping-stone to developing trait-based approaches for wetland ecology.

scholarly journals Highly Species-Specific Foliar Metabolomes of Diverse Woody Species and Relationships with the Leaf Economics Spectrum

Cells ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 10 (3) ◽  
pp. 644
Author(s):  
Rabea Schweiger ◽  
Eva Castells ◽  
Luca Da Sois ◽  
Jordi Martínez-Vilalta ◽  
Caroline Müller
Keyword(s):  
Woody Species ◽  
Common Garden ◽  
Leaf Traits ◽  
Leaf Economics Spectrum ◽  
Specialized Metabolites ◽  
Carbon Nitrogen Ratio ◽  
Nitrogen Ratio ◽  
Positive Correlations ◽  
Species Specific ◽  
Leaf Economics

Plants show an extraordinary diversity in chemical composition and are characterized by different functional traits. However, relationships between the foliar primary and specialized metabolism in terms of metabolite numbers and composition as well as links with the leaf economics spectrum have rarely been explored. We investigated these relationships in leaves of 20 woody species from the Mediterranean region grown as saplings in a common garden, using a comparative ecometabolomics approach that included (semi-)polar primary and specialized metabolites. Our analyses revealed significant positive correlations between both the numbers and relative composition of primary and specialized metabolites. The leaf metabolomes were highly species-specific but in addition showed some phylogenetic imprints. Moreover, metabolomes of deciduous species were distinct from those of evergreens. Significant relationships were found between the primary metabolome and nitrogen content and carbon/nitrogen ratio, important traits of the leaf economics spectrum, ranging from acquisitive (mostly deciduous) to conservative (evergreen) leaves. A comprehensive understanding of various leaf traits and their coordination in different plant species may facilitate our understanding of plant functioning in ecosystems. Chemodiversity is thereby an important component of biodiversity.

scholarly journals Studies of NH4+ and NO3- uptake ability of subalpine plants and resource-use strategy identified by their functional traits

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Legay Nicolas ◽  
Grassein Fabrice ◽  
Arnoldi Cindy ◽  
Segura Raphaël ◽  
Laîné Philippe ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Plant Traits ◽  
N Uptake ◽  
Perennial Grass ◽  
Root Traits ◽  
Leaf Traits ◽  
Grass Species ◽  
Leaf Economics Spectrum ◽  
Peak Biomass ◽  
Whole Plant ◽  
Environmental Variations

AbstractThe leaf economics spectrum (LES) is based on a suite of leaf traits related to plant functioning and ranges from resource-conservative to resource-acquisitive strategies. However, the relationships with root traits, and the associated belowground plant functioning such as N uptake, including nitrate (NO3-) and ammonium (NH4+), is still poorly known. Additionally, environmental variations occurring both in time and in space could uncouple LES from root traits. We explored, in subalpine grasslands, the relationships between leaf and root morphological traits for 3 dominant perennial grass species, and to what extent they contribute to the whole-plant economics spectrum. We also investigated the link between this spectrum and NO3- and NH4+ uptake rates, as well as the variations of uptake across four grasslands differing by the land-use history at peak biomass and in autumn. Although poorly correlated with leaf traits, root traits contributed to an economic spectrum at the whole plant level. Higher NH4+ and NO3- uptake abilities were associated with the resource-acquisitive strategy.Nonetheless, NH4+ and NO3- uptake within species varied between land-uses and with sampling time, suggesting that LES and plant traits are good, but still incomplete, descriptors of plant functioning. Although the NH4+: NO3- uptake ratio was different between plant species in our study, they all showed a preference for NH4+, and particularly the most conservative species. Soil environmental variations between grasslands and sampling times may also drive to some extent the NH4+ and NO3- uptake ability of species. Our results support the current efforts to build a more general framework including above- and below-ground processes when studying plant community functioning.

scholarly journals Intraspecific Variation In Plant Economic Traits Predicts Trembling Aspen Resistance To A Generalist Insect Herbivore

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Clay J. Morrow ◽  
Samuel J. Jaeger ◽  
Richard L. Lindroth
Keyword(s):  
Populus Tremuloides ◽  
Plant Traits ◽  
Common Garden ◽  
Insect Herbivore ◽  
Economic Traits ◽  
Plant Strategies ◽  
Leaf Economics Spectrum ◽  
And Performance ◽  
Generalist Insect ◽  
Leaf Economics

Abstract Patterns of trait expression within some plant species have recently been shown to follow patterns described by the leaf economics spectrum paradigm. Resistance to herbivores is also expected to covary with leaf economics traits. We selected multiple mature Populus tremuloides genotypes from a common garden to assess whether aspen leaf economics patterns follow those observed among species globally. We also evaluated leaf economics strategies in the context of insect resistance by conducting bioassays to determine the effects of plant traits on preference and performance of Lymantria dispar. We found that: 1) intraspecific trait patterns of P. tremuloides parallel those exhibited by the interspecific leaf economics spectrum, 2) herbivores preferred leaves from genotypes with resource-acquisitive strategies, and 3) herbivores also performed best on genotypes with resource-acquisitive strategies. We conclude that a leaf economics spectrum that incorporates defense traits is a useful tool for explaining intraspecific patterns of variation in plant strategies, including resistance to herbivores.

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