The Durian Theory or the Origin of the Modern Tree

Corner, E. J. H.

doi:10.1093/oxfordjournals.aob.a083225

Cited by 305 publications

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“…The probability of seedling establishment increases with seed size [4]. Seed size is strongly correlated with traits evident later in ontogeny, such as plant height and stem size [2,7,43]. Many herbaceous lineages develop woodiness on islands, and recent research suggests that an increase in leaf size is common [8,9].…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

The repeated evolution of large seeds on islands

Kavanagh

Burns

2014

Proc. R. Soc. B.

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Several plant traits are known to evolve in predictable ways on islands. For example, herbaceous species often evolve to become woody and species frequently evolve larger leaves, regardless of growth form. However, our understanding of how seed sizes might evolve on islands lags far behind other plant traits. Here, we conduct the first test for macroevolutionary patterns of seed size on islands. We tested for differences in seed size between 40 island-mainland taxonomic pairings from four island groups surrounding New Zealand. Seed size data were collected in the field and then augmented by published seed descriptions to produce a more comprehensive dataset. Seed sizes of insular plants were consistently larger than mainland relatives, even after accounting for differences in growth form, dispersal mode and evolutionary history. Selection may favour seed size increases on islands to reduce dispersibility, as longdistance dispersal may result in propagule mortality at sea. Alternatively, larger seeds tend to generate larger seedlings, which are more likely to establish and outcompete neighbours. Our results indicate there is a general tendency for the evolution of large seeds on islands, but the mechanisms responsible for this evolutionary pathway have yet to be fully resolved.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

The repeated evolution of large seeds on islands

Kavanagh

Burns

2014

Proc. R. Soc. B.

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“…Hence, many small-leaved species reduce self-shading by having relatively long internodes, and many large-leaved species by having large petioles. Corner (1949) hypothesized that the size of plant axes and their appendages should be positively correlated because of biomechanical and/or vascular constraints; large leaves require more biomechanical and hydraulic support, which can be rendered by producing petioles and internodes with a wider cross-sectional area, leading to a lower SPL (Fig. 1d) and speciWc internode length (Fig.…”

Section: Metamer Traits and Leaf Sizementioning

confidence: 99%

“…Many metamer traits may vary along with leaf size (e.g., White 1983;Ackerly and Donoghue 1998;Cornelissen 1999), a phenomenon that is also known as "Corner's rules". Corner (1949) suggested that the size of plant appendages (leaves, fruits) and axes (stem, branches) should be positively correlated because of vascular and biomechanical constraints. Large leaves require, for example, a disproportionate increase in biomass investment in support because the static load of the leaf scales with the cube of leaf length (Niklas 1999).…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

Leaf size and leaf display of thirty-eight tropical tree species

2008

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Trees forage for light through optimal leaf display. EVective leaf display is determined by metamer traits (i.e., the internode, petiole, and corresponding leaf), and thus these traits strongly co-determine carbon gain and as a result competitive advantage in a light-limited environment. We examined 11 metamer traits of sun and shade trees of 38 coexisting moist forest tree species and determined the relative strengths of intra-and interspeciWc variation. Species-speciWc metamer traits were related to two variables that represent important life history variation; the regeneration light requirements and average leaf size of the species. Metamer traits varied strongly across species and, in contrast to our expectation, showed only modest changes in response to light. Intra-and interspeciWc responses to light were only congruent for a third of the traits evaluated. Four traits, amongst which leaf size, speciWc leaf area (SLA), and leaf area ratio at the metamer level (LAR) showed even opposite intra-and interspeciWc responses to light. Strikingly, these are classic traits that are thought to be of paramount importance for plant performance but that have completely diVerent consequences within and across species. Sun trees of a given species had small leaves to reduce the heat load, but light-demanding species had large leaves compared to shade-tolerants, probably to outcompete their neighbors. Shade trees of a given species had a high SLA and LAR to capture more light in a light-limited environment, whereas shade-tolerant species have wellprotected leaves with a low SLA compared to lightdemanding species, probably to deter herbivores and enhance leaf lifespan. There was a leaf-size-mediated tradeoV between biomechanical and hydraulic safety, and the eYciency with which species can space their leaves and forage for light. Unexpectedly, metamer traits were more closely linked to leaf size than to regeneration light requirements, probably because leaf-size-related biomechanical and vascular constraints limit the trait combinations that are physically possible. This suggests that the leaf size spectrum overrules more subtle variation caused by the leaf economics spectrum, and that leaf size represents a more important strategy axis than previously thought.

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“…In this regard, it is worth noting that other studies have reported that small-seeded species are more common in plant communities compared to large-seeded species (see Aarssen 2005), i.e., seed size frequency distributions are right-skewed. Further, according to Corner's rule, which states that thick stems tend to bear large appendages like leaves and seeds (Corner 1949), leaf size should have the same frequency distribution pattern as seeds. Collectively, these findings serve as additional evidence supporting the leafing-intensity-premium hypothesis from a functional, albeit not a mechanistic perspective.…”

Section: Leaf Size Frequency Distributions Within Habitatsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Testing the generality of the ‘leafing intensity premium’ hypothesis in temperate broad-leaved forests: a survey of variation in leaf size within and between habitats

Sun

2009

Evol Ecol

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Because leaf size scales negatively and isometrically with leaf number per shoot size (leafing intensity) in woody species, and because most tree and shrub species have small leaves, Kleiman and Aarssen (J Ecol 95:376-382, 2007) recently proposed that natural selection favors high leafing intensity resulting in small leaves, i.e., the leafingintensity-premium hypothesis. However, empirical evidence for or against this hypothesis is still lacking. In addition, this hypothesis has not been examined in the context of how leaf size varies among habitats. To fill this void, we investigated leaf size frequency distributions of woody species from temperate China and explored the relationships among leaf mass, leaf number, and stem mass of current-year shoots of 133 woody species at low and high altitudes of three mountain ranges. The scaling relationships between leaf size and leafing intensity (leaf number per stem mass) were determined using both standardized major axis regression analyses and phylogenetically independent comparative techniques. In light of the leafing-intensity-premium hypothesis, we made three predictions: (1) leaf size frequency distributions should be right-skewed for each local study area and for the entire study region, (2) leafing intensities at different altitudes at different sites should differ while leafing intensities at comparable altitudes should be similar baring large taxonomic differences among sites, and (3) that leafing intensity should be higher for any given leaf size in habitats with small-leaved species. Significant negative and isometric scaling relationships between leaf size and leafing intensity were found to be consistently conserved independent of habitat type, both across species and across correlated evolutionary divergences. Within each mountain range or across the entire study region, leaf size frequency distributions were right-skewed, in accordance with our prediction. However, leafing intensity was smaller for any given leaf size at the altitude with smaller leafed 123Evol Ecol (2010) 24:685-701 DOI 10.1007 species than for altitudes characterized by large leafed species, i.e., altitudes characterized by species with small leaves did not have consistently higher leafing intensities than other altitudes on each mountain range. Our analyses therefore indicate the direct adaptive value of leaf size but not the selective advantage in high leafing intensity as posited by the leafing-intensity-premium hypothesis. We suggest that this hypothesis explains less about the variation of leaf size among different habitats as it does about variation within habitats, i.e., the relative importance of the adaptive significance of leafing intensity and leaf size can and does vary with habitats.

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The Durian Theory or the Origin of the Modern Tree

Cited by 305 publications

References 0 publications

The repeated evolution of large seeds on islands

The repeated evolution of large seeds on islands

Leaf size and leaf display of thirty-eight tropical tree species

Testing the generality of the ‘leafing intensity premium’ hypothesis in temperate broad-leaved forests: a survey of variation in leaf size within and between habitats

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