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Updated: May 28, 2026

Reconstructing Terrestrial Paleoclimate and Paleoecology with Fossil Leaves Using Digital Leaf Physiognomy and Leaf Mass Per Area

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Leaf morphology, taxonomy and geometric morphometrics: a simplified protocol for beginners.

Vincenzo Viscosi¹, Andrea Cardini

¹Museo Erbario del Molise, Dipartimento di Scienze e Tecnologie per l'Ambiente e il Territorio, Università del Molise, Contrada Fonte Lappone, Pesche, Italy. vincenzo.viscosi@unimol.it

|October 13, 2011

Summary

Geometric morphometrics offers a powerful, reproducible way to analyze plant leaf shape for taxonomy. This study demonstrates its application, showing it effectively reveals subtle variations and improves discrimination accuracy.

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Area of Science:

Botany
Quantitative Biology
Biodiversity Science

Background:

Taxonomy traditionally relies on morphology for species discrimination.
Computerized geometric morphometrics provides advanced quantitative shape analysis.
Plant leaves are ideal for landmark-based geometric morphometrics, yet underutilized by botanists compared to zoologists.

Purpose of the Study:

To detail the application of geometric morphometrics for analyzing plant leaf shape variation.
To demonstrate the use of free software for quantitative shape analysis in botanical studies.
To assess the effectiveness of Procrustes methods in taxonomic discrimination and hierarchical variation analysis.

Main Methods:

Utilized Procrustes methods for computing size and shape variables from landmark data.
Employed a hierarchical design to test measurement error and variation at population and tree levels.
Estimated group discrimination accuracy, with and without controlling for allometry (size-shape relationships).

Main Results:

Measurement error was negligible.
Individual leaf variation was substantial, with greater differences between trees than within trees.
Geographic populations showed minimal differences in size and shape; controlling for allometry slightly improved discrimination.

Conclusions:

Procrustes-based geometric morphometrics efficiently captures hierarchical variation in leaf morphology.
These methods enhance scientific rigor in describing phenotypic biodiversity.
Accessible examples can encourage broader adoption of geometric morphometrics in biology.