Taxonomic diversity masks leaf vein–climate relationships: lessons from herbarium collections across a latitudinal rainfall gradient in West Africa

Schneider, Julio V.; Negraschis, Vanessa; Habersetzer, Jörg; Rabenstein, Renate; Wesenberg, Jens; Wesche, Karsten; Zizka, Georg

doi:10.1080/23818107.2017.1421480

Cited by 11 publications

(12 citation statements)

References 50 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Order By: Relevance

“…Indeed, some data from short-term control experiments and observations in the field have confirmed the association between climate and VD by demonstrating that sun-adapted species and species from relatively dry or hightemperature climates tend to possess greater VD Blonder et al, 2017). However, based on the analysis of 238 herbarium specimens, Schneider et al (2018) reported the weak overall relationships between vein traits and climatic variables. Additionally, based on a survey of 485 global species, Sack et al (2012) emphasized that both larger leaves from moist regions and small leaves from dry regions may possess high VD.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 98%

“…Plants can modify the geometry and structure of leaf venation to adapt to different hydraulic environments de Boer et al, 2012;Blonder and Enquist, 2014). In drier regions, for example, the lower air humidity increases the difference between the water content of the leaf interior and the atmosphere, and thus the vapor pressure deficit increases, which eventually results in increased transpiration (Uhl and Mosbrugger, 1999;Schneider et al, 2018). In order to maintain a suitable leaf water supplydemand balance, plants can invest in higher VD to satisfy high transpirational demand Blonder and Enquist, 2014;Blonder et al, 2017).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…In order to maintain a suitable leaf water supplydemand balance, plants can invest in higher VD to satisfy high transpirational demand Blonder and Enquist, 2014;Blonder et al, 2017). Meanwhile, VT decreases with increasing aridity, in order to minimize the cost of vein construction (Beerling and Franks, 2010) and to maintain vein spacing at levels that do not impede photosynthetic rate (Feild and Brodribb, 2013;Schneider et al, 2018). Thus, environmental factors that increase the transpiration of plants or decrease water availability tend to mediate greater VD and lower VT (Uhl and Mosbrugger, 1999;.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

See 2 more Smart Citations

Plant Phylogeny and Growth Form as Drivers of the Altitudinal Variation in Woody Leaf Vein Traits

et al. 2020

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Variation in leaf veins along environmental gradients reflects an important adaptive strategy of plants to the external habitats, because of their crucial roles in maintaining leaf water status and photosynthetic capacity. However, most studies concentrate on a few species and their vein variation across horizontal spatial scale, we know little about how vein traits shift along the vertical scale, e.g., elevational gradient along a mountain, and how such patterns are shaped by plant types and environmental factors. Here, we aimed to investigate the variation in leaf vein traits (i.e., vein density, VD; vein thickness, VT; and vein volume per unit leaf area, VV) of 93 woody species distributed along an elevational gradient (1,374-3,375 m) in a temperate mountain in China. Our results showed that altitude-related trends differed between growth forms. Tree plants from higher altitudes had lower VD but higher VT and VV than those from lower altitude; however, the opposite tend was observed in VD of shrubs, and no significant altitudinal changes in their VT or VV. Plant phylogenetic information at the clade level rather than climate explained most of variation in three leaf vein traits (17.1-86.6% vs. <0.011-6.3% explained variance), supporting the phylogenetic conservatism hypothesis for leaf vein traits. Moreover, the phylogenetic effects on vein traits differed between trees and shrubs, with the vein traits of trees being relatively more conserved. Together, our study provides new picture of leaf vein variation along the altitude, and highlights the importance of taking plant phylogeny into consideration when discussing trait variation from an ecological to a biogeographic scale.

show abstract

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 98%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

See 1 more Smart Citation

Plant Phylogeny and Growth Form as Drivers of the Altitudinal Variation in Woody Leaf Vein Traits

et al. 2020

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…However, P. subaequalis can only grow and thrive within a small range of temperatures and environmental habitats that have a low heterogeneity [5]. Characteristic traits, such as leaf size, leaf length, color, and propagation ability, are highly diverse in P. subaequalis [26]. To date, there have only been a few studies on the P. subaequalis leaf trait responses to climatic stress, and the sensitivity of P. subaequalis leaf morphology to climate change is poorly understood.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Leaf Venation Variation and Phenotypic Plasticity in Response to Environmental Heterogeneity in Parrotia subaequalis (H. T. Chang) R. M. Hao et H. T. Wei, An Endemic and Endangered Tree Species from China

Zhang

Yang

Huang

et al. 2018

Forests

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Plant leaf vein traits are partially the result of adaptation to environmental factors during long-term evolution. For terrestrial plants, leaf veins greatly vary in size and numbers. Parrotia subaequalis (H. T. Chang) R. M. Hao et H. T. Wei, an endangered tree species endemic to China, has a limited distribution, and inhabits both hillsides and valleys. The variations in P. subaequalis leaf venation and vein density in response to environmental changes were examined by collecting samples from all 14 extant populations and analyzing the association between leaf vein density and environmental factors. The results revealed that leaf characteristics were strongly associated with different habitats. A set of vein traits, namely base angle, intercostal tertiary areole development and shape, and free ending veinlet branching, were related to habitat. Significant relationships between vein density and environmental variables (mean annual temperature, mean annual precipitation, and elevation) were doubtless confirmed by this study. These findings indicate that phenotypic plasticity in leaf vein traits is an important ecophysiological characteristic that enables P. subaequalis to adapt to spatiotemporally fluctuating environments. Furthermore, these results also provide important reference data for in-depth studies on the protection strategies used by the tree.

show abstract

“…reference specimens generally cited in the original descriptions of species, with which other specimens have to be compared to be determined. Currently, mass digitization of herbarium specimens (Beaman and Cellinese 2012; Smith and Blagoderov 2012; Seregin 2016) triggers systematics studies and has a strong impact on the development of innovative methods of trait data extraction from image analysis, including machine learning algorithms (Younis et al 2018;Schneider et al 2018;Corney et al 2012;Unger, Merhof, and Renner 2016;Reeb et al 2018). Herbarium specimens can also be a convenient source of biological material (e.g.…”

Section: Systematics and Patterns Of Biodiversitymentioning

confidence: 99%

Herbarium-based science in the twenty-first century

et al. 2018

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Taxonomic diversity masks leaf vein–climate relationships: lessons from herbarium collections across a latitudinal rainfall gradient in West Africa

Cited by 11 publications

References 50 publications

Plant Phylogeny and Growth Form as Drivers of the Altitudinal Variation in Woody Leaf Vein Traits

Plant Phylogeny and Growth Form as Drivers of the Altitudinal Variation in Woody Leaf Vein Traits

Leaf Venation Variation and Phenotypic Plasticity in Response to Environmental Heterogeneity in Parrotia subaequalis (H. T. Chang) R. M. Hao et H. T. Wei, An Endemic and Endangered Tree Species from China

Herbarium-based science in the twenty-first century

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About