Abstract
Leaf mass per area (LMA) is one of the most widely measured of all plant functional traits. In deciduous forests, there is similarity between plastic and evolutionary responses of LMA to light gradients. In evergreens, however, LMA is lower in shaded than sunlit individuals of the same species, whereas shade-tolerant evergreens have higher LMA than light-demanders grown under the same conditions. We suggest that this pattern of 'counter-gradient variation' results from some combination of (i) close evolutionary coordination of LMA with leaf lifespan, (ii) selection for different leaf constitutions (relative investment in cell walls versus cell contents) in sun and shade environments and/or (iii) constraints on plasticity as a result of genetic correlations between phenotypes expressed in sun and shade.
Original language | English (US) |
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Pages (from-to) | 299-303 |
Number of pages | 5 |
Journal | Trends in Ecology and Evolution |
Volume | 23 |
Issue number | 6 |
DOIs | |
State | Published - Jun 2008 |
Bibliographical note
Funding Information:We thank the following programs for support: ARC Discovery (C.H.L.), Macquarie University New Staff Grant (C.H.L.), NSF Integrative Organismal Systems (R.A.M.), NSF Long-Term Ecological Research (P.B.R., J.C-B.) and Wilderness Research Foundation (P.B.R.).
Copyright:
Copyright 2011 Elsevier B.V., All rights reserved.