A meta‐analysis of plant responses to light intensity for 70 traits ranging from molecules to whole plant performance

Poorter, Hendrik; Niinemets, Ülo; Ntagkas, Nikolaos; Siebenkäs, Alrun; Mäenpää, Maarit; Matsubara, Shizue; Pons, Thijs L.

doi:10.1111/nph.15754

Cited by 406 publications

(406 citation statements)

References 586 publications

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“…As expected, plants grown under reduced PFD increased SLA, which is a very common morphological response to shading (Poorter et al, ) and enhances light interception (Björkman, ; Gómez, Guenni, & Bravo de Guenni, ; Roscher, Kutsch, Kolle, Ziegler, & Schulze, ). There are copious studies on both morphological and physiological adjustments of plants to low light intensity (for reviews see Kami, Lorrain, Hornitschek, & Fankhauser, ; Lewis, ; Turnbull, ).…”

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 66%

Halving sunlight reveals no carbon limitation of aboveground biomass production in alpine grassland

Möhl

Hiltbrunner

Körner

2020

Global Change Biology

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In temperate alpine environments, the short growing season, low temperature and a slow nutrient cycle may restrict plant growth more than carbon (C) assimilation does. To test whether C is a limiting resource, we applied a shade gradient from ambient light to 44% (maximum shade) of incident photon flux density (PFD) in late successional, Carex curvula‐dominated alpine grassland at 2,580 m elevation in the Swiss central Alps for 3 years (2014–2016). Total aboveground biomass did not significantly decrease under reduced PFD, with a confidence interval ranging from +4% to −15% biomass in maximum shade. Belowground biomass, of which more than 80% were fine roots, was significantly reduced by a mean of 17.9 ± 4.6% (±SE), corresponding to 228 g/m2, in maximum shade in 2015 and 2016. This suggests reduced investments into water and nutrient acquisition according to the functional equilibrium concept. Specific leaf area (SLA) and maximum leaf length of the most abundant species increased with decreasing PFD. Foliar concentration of nonstructural carbohydrates (NSC) was reduced by 12.5 ± 4.3% under maximum shade (mean of eight tested species), while NSC concentration of belowground storage organs were unchanged in the four most abundant forbs. Furthermore, maximum shade lowered foliar δ13C by 1.56 ± 0.35‰ and increased foliar nitrogen concentrations per unit dry mass by 18.8 ± 4.1% across six species in 2015. However, based on unit leaf area, N concentrations were lower in shade (effect of higher SLA). Thus, while we found typical morphological and physiological plant responses to lower light, shading did not considerably affect seasonal aboveground biomass production of this alpine plant community within a broad range of PFD. This suggests that C is not a growth‐limiting resource, matching the unresponsiveness to in situ CO2 enrichment previously reported for this type of grassland.

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Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 66%

Halving sunlight reveals no carbon limitation of aboveground biomass production in alpine grassland

Möhl

Hiltbrunner

Körner

2020

Global Change Biology

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“…More pronounced growth stimulation of shade-tolerant species by elevated [CO 2 ] was confirmed in a meta-analysis by Kerstiens (2001). However, differences between shade-tolerant and shadeintolerant species only occurred at high DLIs (Poorter et al, 2019). Kerstiens (1998) (Kerstiens, 2001).…”

Section: Responses To Elevated [Co 2 ] Are Speciesspecificmentioning

confidence: 72%

“…More pronounced growth stimulation of shade‐tolerant species by elevated [CO 2 ] was confirmed in a meta‐analysis by Kerstiens (). However, differences between shade‐tolerant and shade‐intolerant species only occurred at high DLIs (Poorter et al, ). Kerstiens () suggested that shade‐tolerance as such does not play a role in response to elevated [CO 2 ], but that functional traits associated with the ability to survive suppression of growth in the forest understorey are crucial for growth response to elevated [CO 2 ] (e.g., ability to harvest light, water, and nutrients).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Daily light integral has significant impacts on a range of leaf/ plant traits related to anatomical structure, chemical composition, physiological responses, and growth (Augspurger, Cheeseman, & Salk, 2005;Hättenschwiler, 2001;Lichtenthaler, Ač, Marek, Kalina, & Urban, 2007;Rajsnerová et al, 2015). Meta-analysis study of 70 leaf traits has shown that these changes are generally larger at low DLIs, while tend to saturate at high DLI (Poorter et al, 2019). Among others, leaf mass per area (LMA) and leaf thickness increase with increasing DLI, that is, the parameters increasing also with increasing [CO 2 ].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Distinct seasonal dynamics of responses to elevated CO₂in two understorey grass species differing in shade‐tolerance

Holub

Klem

Linder

et al. 2019

Ecology and Evolution

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Understorey plant communities are crucial to maintain species diversity and ecosystem processes including nutrient cycling and regeneration of overstorey trees. Most studies exploring effects of elevated CO2 concentration ([CO2]) in forests have, however, been done on overstorey trees, while understorey communities received only limited attention. The hypothesis that understorey grass species differ in shade‐tolerance and development dynamics, and temporally exploit different niches under elevated [CO2], was tested during the fourth year of [CO2] treatment. We assumed stimulated carbon gain by elevated [CO2] even at low light conditions in strongly shade‐tolerant Luzula sylvatica, while its stimulation under elevated [CO2] in less shade‐tolerant Calamagrostis arundinacea was expected only in early spring when the tree canopy is not fully developed. We found evidence supporting this hypothesis. While elevated [CO2] stimulated photosynthesis in L. sylvatica mainly in the peak of the growing season (by 55%–57% in July and August), even at low light intensities (50 µmol m−2 s−1), stimulatory effect of [CO2] in C. arundinacea was found mainly under high light intensities (200 µmol m−2 s−1) at the beginning of the growing season (increase by 171% in May) and gradually declined during the season. Elevated [CO2] also substantially stimulated leaf mass area and root‐to‐shoot ratio in L. sylvatica, while only insignificant increases were observed in C. arundinacea. Our physiological and morphological analyses indicate that understorey species, differing in shade‐tolerance, under elevated [CO2] exploit distinct niches in light environment given by the dynamics of the tree canopy.

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“…Species that adjust their physiological or morphological traits to take advantage of spatially variable light availability or temporally variable water and nutrient availability in low‐resource systems may outperform less plastic neighboring species (Funk , Poorter et al. ). Thus, our results confirm the importance of intraspecific variation especially for species of wider distributions across steep environmental gradients.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Evidence for trait‐based community assembly patterns in hardwood hammock forests

et al. 2019

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The hardwood forests of south Florida, commonly referred to as hammocks, persist as well‐drained patches of broadleaf forest, embedded in a matrix of brackish water swamp, freshwater marsh, or pineland. Little is known about the patterns of community assembly of these subtropical forest communities in the landscape mosaic of south Florida. We used a functional trait approach to understand the composition of these communities and their responses to environmental variation across four areas of south Florida: the pine rocklands and freshwater marshes in Everglades National Park, and the lower and upper Florida Keys, where the hammocks are surrounded by halophytic swamp communities. These sites represent an environmental gradient from less‐productive, more xeric sites in the lower Florida Keys, to more‐productive, wetter sites in the Everglades marshes. We examined the patterns of trait variation at three levels (individual, population, and community) to examine the underlying processes driving assembly in these hammock communities. To understand processes governing community composition in each site, we used methods that partition variance in six traits (maximum tree height, specific leaf area, wood specific gravity, leaf nitrogen, leaf phosphorus, and leaf stable carbon isotope ratios) into internal and external filtering components. Community‐weighted mean trait values for three traits (specific leaf area, height, and leaf phosphorus) increased significantly from dry, less‐productive coastal sites in the Florida Keys to the moist, more‐productive areas on the mainland, while wood specific gravity and leaf δ13C showed the opposite pattern. For one or more traits per site, standardized effect sizes differed significantly from null expectation. Processes such as competition for resources (e.g., water, nutrients, light) and species sorting across microhabitats (i.e., within site) operate to increase local functional trait variation within communities and among species across sites. External filtering on individuals for height and leaf phosphorus differed significantly from null expectations across sites, while external filtering on species was only observed for specific leaf area, maximum tree height, and leaf phosphorus. These results are consistent with strong environmental filtering across the region, among local communities differing in freshwater accessibility or that occupy different positions along strong edaphic gradients. Our results confirm the importance of intraspecific variation among species and reflect a high degree of trait plasticity across the environmental gradient.

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A meta‐analysis of plant responses to light intensity for 70 traits ranging from molecules to whole plant performance

Cited by 406 publications

References 586 publications

Halving sunlight reveals no carbon limitation of aboveground biomass production in alpine grassland

Halving sunlight reveals no carbon limitation of aboveground biomass production in alpine grassland

Distinct seasonal dynamics of responses to elevated CO₂in two understorey grass species differing in shade‐tolerance

Evidence for trait‐based community assembly patterns in hardwood hammock forests

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A meta‐analysis of plant responses to light intensity for 70 traits ranging from molecules to whole plant performance

Cited by 406 publications

References 586 publications

Halving sunlight reveals no carbon limitation of aboveground biomass production in alpine grassland

Halving sunlight reveals no carbon limitation of aboveground biomass production in alpine grassland

Distinct seasonal dynamics of responses to elevated CO2in two understorey grass species differing in shade‐tolerance

Evidence for trait‐based community assembly patterns in hardwood hammock forests

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Distinct seasonal dynamics of responses to elevated CO₂in two understorey grass species differing in shade‐tolerance