The leaf size/number trade-off within species and within plants for woody angiosperms

Dombroskie, Sarah L.; Aarssen, Lonnie W.

doi:10.5091/plecevo.2012.665

Cited by 16 publications

(18 citation statements)

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“…The leaf size/number trade‐off has also been reported between herbaceous species (Whitman & Aarssen ), between plants (within‐species) for both trees (Dombroskie & Aarssen ; Jarcuska & Milla ) and herbs (Scott & Aarssen ), between genders for dioecious angiosperms (Scott & Aarssen ), and even at the between‐shoot (within‐tree) level (Dombroskie & Aarssen ; Jarcuska & Milla ). Evidence from these studies suggests that leafing intensity is generally: higher in herbaceous species (and plants within species) that have smaller body size (Whitman & Aarssen ; Scott & Aarssen ); higher in more shaded woody shoots within a canopy (Dombroskie & Aarssen ); and higher within male plants in dioecious species (Scott & Aarssen ). In some cases, the leaf size/leafing intensity trade‐off can be allometric, and this may be interpreted in terms of adaptive leaf deployment strategies (Dombroskie & Aarssen ; Jarcuska & Milla ; Scott & Aarssen ).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 82%

“…species at high vs. low altitude) (Yang, Li & Sun 2008;Li et al 2009;Milla 2009;Xiang, Wu & Sun 2010;Milla & Reich 2011;Yan et al 2012). The leaf size/number trade-off has also been reported between herbaceous species (Whitman & Aarssen 2010), between plants (within-species) for both trees (Dombroskie & Aarssen 2012;Jarcuska & Milla 2012) and herbs (Scott & Aarssen 2012), between genders for dioecious angiosperms (Scott & Aarssen 2013), and even at the between-shoot (within-tree) level (Dombroskie & Aarssen 2012;Jarcuska & Milla 2012). Evidence from these studies suggests that leafing intensity is generally: higher in herbaceous species (and plants within species) that have smaller body size (Whitman & Aarssen 2010;Scott & Aarssen 2012); higher in more shaded woody shoots within a canopy (Dombroskie & Aarssen 2012); and higher within male plants in dioecious species (Scott & Aarssen 2013).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 94%

“…Evidence from these studies suggests that leafing intensity is generally: higher in herbaceous species (and plants within species) that have smaller body size (Whitman & Aarssen ; Scott & Aarssen ); higher in more shaded woody shoots within a canopy (Dombroskie & Aarssen ); and higher within male plants in dioecious species (Scott & Aarssen ). In some cases, the leaf size/leafing intensity trade‐off can be allometric, and this may be interpreted in terms of adaptive leaf deployment strategies (Dombroskie & Aarssen ; Jarcuska & Milla ; Scott & Aarssen ). In cases where leafing intensity is calculated on a per unit stem volume basis (as opposed to a per unit stem mass basis), allometric relationships may arise if biomass allocation to leaves vs. stems is allometric, and if stem bulk density varies with plant size (Huang et al .…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Leafing intensity and the fruit size/number trade‐off in woody angiosperms

2016

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Summary A sample of woody angiosperm species was used to test a central prediction of the ‘leafing intensity premium’ hypothesis: higher leafing intensity (number of leaves produced per unit dry mass of shoot vegetative tissue produced in the same growing season) confers a larger bud bank (i.e. number of axillary meristems per unit shoot tissue) that can be deployed for reproduction, and thus confers generally greater fruit numbers, and hence higher potential fecundity allocation (i.e. fecundity per unit size of the supporting shoot tissue that is produced in the same growing season. Current‐year shoots (i.e. bearing leaves) were collected to record: shoot dry mass, total number of leaves, total number of fruits or fruit clusters (if derived from inflorescences), mean individual leaf dry mass and mean individual fruit dry mass. Sampled individuals (shrubs and trees) were also measured for body size (main stem height and circumference). Species with larger individual fruit (or fruit cluster) mass have generally larger leaves, but they also have a negative trade‐off relationship with ‘fruiting intensity’ – that is the total number of reproductive meristems producing fruits (or fruit clusters) per unit dry mass of shoot vegetative tissue produced in the same growing season. Variation in fruiting intensity, however, is better predicted by a positive relationship with variation in bud bank size. Species with smaller leaf size (dry mass) have generally higher leafing intensity; species with higher leafing intensity in turn have generally higher fruiting intensity; and species with higher fruiting intensity in turn have generally higher potential fecundity allocation (based on the typical species maximum number of seeds per fruit, obtained from published floras). Species with smaller body size have generally higher potential fecundity allocation, but body size had no significant relationships with other measured traits when controlling for phylogeny (using phylogenetically independent contrasts). Synthesis. Our results indicate that bud bank size is an important functional trait for defining adaptive strategy in woody angiosperms. A larger bud bank is generated by higher leafing intensity, which in turn generates higher fruiting intensity, thus generating greater potential fecundity allocation. These traits will be important for maximizing reproductive economy – that is capacity to produce offspring despite growth or body size limitation (e.g. due to crowding/competition, or because of limited time available for growth, flowering, pollination or fruit/seed maturation).

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 82%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 94%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Leafing intensity and the fruit size/number trade‐off in woody angiosperms

2016

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“…; Reich ). Plants with smaller leaves might also be associated with higher leafing intensity (Milla ; Milla & Reich ; Dombroskie & Aarssen ), which relates to higher secondary growth and a larger bud bank for recovery after damage to tissues, e.g. frost damage (Yan et al.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Similarly, the competitive advantages of larger leaves are lower in frost hollows where there is higher exposure to severe temperatures (Nicotra et al 2011;Reich 2014). Plants with smaller leaves might also be associated with higher leafing intensity (Milla 2009;Milla & Reich 2011;Dombroskie & Aarssen 2012), which relates to higher secondary growth and a larger bud bank for recovery after damage to tissues, e.g. frost damage (Yan et al 2012).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

The role of plant functional traits in shrub distribution around alpine frost hollows

Lim

Pollock

Vesk

2017

J Vegetation Science

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Introduction/Aims Functional traits aid understanding of species distribution and community composition along environmental gradients. However, studies that detail trait measurements along fine‐scale environmental gradients are lacking for many vulnerable ecosystems. In this paper, we quantify how plant traits might explain the composition of shrubs in one such vulnerable system – frost hollows. Location Bogong High Plains, Victoria, Australia. Methods We measured species composition and a suite of traits (shrub height, stem specific density, leaf area and SLA, xylem vessel area and density, and leaf bud traits) for shrub species in three, 10 m × 10 m quadrats located across transition from hilltops down into frost hollows. We used ordinal regression to model vegetation transitions by relating the changes in shrub species occurrence along frost hollow gradients to each trait, and across multiple traits. We also assessed intraspecific trait variations along gradients. Results Several traits explained the position of species along a gradient of cold air accumulation (slopes leading into frost hollows). The most important traits were maximum shrub height, leaf area and xylem traits, which were clearly related to species location on the slopes in single trait models. More complex relationships were revealed with multi‐trait models, which indicated that shorter species, those with smaller leaves and larger buds for their leaf size, and those with lower vessel density were more likely to be found toward the bottom of the slope. Within species, taller individuals and those with denser stems were also more common up‐slope. Conclusion Our results suggest a shift in ecological strategies in frost hollows: the advantages of being taller and having large leaves may be diminished in these stressful environments. Shrubs that are shorter and have smaller leaves may also be better at avoiding the risk of frost damage. Our study shows how the fine‐scale turnover of shrub species composition around frost hollows relates to plant functional traits, and captures the allocation trade‐offs between coping with environmental stress and being competitive within these plant communities.

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