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Relating Stomatal Conductance to Leaf Functional Traits

Relating Stomatal Conductance to Leaf Functional Traits

Published on: October 12, 2015

Leaf traits within communities: context may affect the mapping of traits to function.

Jennifer L Funk¹, William K Cornwell

¹School of Earth and Environmental Sciences, Chapman University, Orange, California 92866, USA. jlfunk@chapman.edu

|November 28, 2013

Summary

The leaf economics spectrum (LES) connects leaf traits to plant strategies, but trait relationships weaken in communities with limited leaf life span (LLS) variation, especially for herbaceous and deciduous species.

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Area of Science:

Plant Ecology
Trait-Based Ecology

Background:

The leaf economics spectrum (LES) framework links leaf traits to plant ecological strategies.
It quantifies trade-offs between leaf longevity and carbon capture rates.
LES facilitates rapid assessment of species' carbon strategies in community ecology.

Purpose of the Study:

To examine the reliability of LES trait relationships across diverse plant communities.
To investigate how variation in leaf life span (LLS) influences relationships among key leaf traits.
To identify community types where LES interpretations may require caution.

Main Methods:

Analyzed functional traits (photosynthetic rate, leaf nitrogen, leaf mass/area) from 22 diverse plant communities.
Assessed the strength of trait relationships in relation to leaf life span (LLS) variation.
Compared trait relationships across communities dominated by different plant functional types.

Main Results:

Relationships among common leaf traits were weak in communities with low LLS variation.
This weakening was particularly pronounced in communities dominated by herbaceous or deciduous woody species.
Limited global data exists for LLS in herbaceous and deciduous communities.

Conclusions:

Trait relationships within the LES framework are context-dependent.
Interpreting leaf-trait variation in herbaceous and deciduous-dominated communities requires caution.
Further data on LLS for these community types is needed to confirm findings.