A continental-scale assessment of variability in leaf traits: Within species, across sites and between seasons

Bloomfield, KJ; Cernusak, LA; Eamus, D; Ellsworth, DS; Colin Prentice, I; Wright, IJ; Boer, MM; Bradford, MG; Cale, P; Cleverly, J; Egerton, JJG; Evans, BJ; Hayes, LS; Hutchinson, MF; Liddell, MJ; Macfarlane, C; Meyer, WS; Prober, SM; Togashi, HF; Wardlaw, T; Zhu, L; Atkin, OK

A continental-scale assessment of variability in leaf traits: Within species, across sites and between seasons

Bloomfield, KJ Cernusak, LA Eamus, D

Ellsworth, DS Colin Prentice, I Wright, IJ Boer, MM Bradford, MG Cale, P Cleverly, J

Egerton, JJG Evans, BJ Hayes, LS Hutchinson, MF Liddell, MJ Macfarlane, C Meyer, WS Prober, SM Togashi, HF Wardlaw, T Zhu, L Atkin, OK

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Publication Type:: Journal Article
Citation:: Functional Ecology, 2018, 32 (6), pp. 1492 - 1506
Issue Date:: 2018-06-01

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Field	Value	Language
dc.contributor.author	Bloomfield, KJ	en_US
dc.contributor.author	Cernusak, LA	en_US
dc.contributor.author	Eamus, D https://orcid.org/0000-0003-2765-8040	en_US
dc.contributor.author	Ellsworth, DS	en_US
dc.contributor.author	Colin Prentice, I	en_US
dc.contributor.author	Wright, IJ	en_US
dc.contributor.author	Boer, MM	en_US
dc.contributor.author	Bradford, MG	en_US
dc.contributor.author	Cale, P	en_US
dc.contributor.author	Cleverly, J https://orcid.org/0000-0002-2731-7150	en_US
dc.contributor.author	Egerton, JJG	en_US
dc.contributor.author	Evans, BJ	en_US
dc.contributor.author	Hayes, LS	en_US
dc.contributor.author	Hutchinson, MF	en_US
dc.contributor.author	Liddell, MJ	en_US
dc.contributor.author	Macfarlane, C	en_US
dc.contributor.author	Meyer, WS	en_US
dc.contributor.author	Prober, SM	en_US
dc.contributor.author	Togashi, HF	en_US
dc.contributor.author	Wardlaw, T	en_US
dc.contributor.author	Zhu, L	en_US
dc.contributor.author	Atkin, OK	en_US
dc.date.available	2020-05-25T19:07:24Z
dc.date.issued	2018-06-01	en_US
dc.identifier.citation	Functional Ecology, 2018, 32 (6), pp. 1492 - 1506	en_US
dc.identifier.issn	0269-8463	en_US
dc.identifier.uri	http://hdl.handle.net/10453/128075
dc.description.abstract	© 2018 The Authors. Functional Ecology © 2018 British Ecological Society Plant species show considerable leaf trait variability that should be accounted for in dynamic global vegetation models (DGVMs). In particular, differences in the acclimation of leaf traits during periods more and less favourable to growth have rarely been examined. We conducted a field study of leaf trait variation at seven sites spanning a range of climates and latitudes across the Australian continent; 80 native plant species were included. We measured key traits associated with leaf structure, chemistry and metabolism during the favourable and unfavourable growing seasons. Leaf traits differed widely in the degree of seasonal variation displayed. Leaf mass per unit area (Ma) showed none. At the other extreme, seasonal variation accounted for nearly a third of total variability in dark respiration (Rdark). At the non-tropical sites, carboxylation capacity (Vcmax) at the prevailing growth temperature was typically higher in summer than in winter. When Vcmax was normalized to a common reference temperature (25°C), however, the opposite pattern was observed for about 30% of the species. This suggests that metabolic acclimation is possible, but far from universal. Intraspecific variation—combining measurements of individual plants repeated at contrasting seasons, different leaves from the same individual, and multiple conspecific plants at a given site—dominated total variation for leaf metabolic traits Vcmax and Rdark. By contrast, site location was the major source of variation (53%) for Ma. Interspecific trait variation ranged from only 13% of total variation for Vcmax up to 43% for nitrogen content per unit leaf area. These findings do not support a common practice in DGVMs of assigning fixed leaf trait values to plant functional types. Trait-based models should allow for interspecific differences, together with spatial and temporal plasticity in leaf structural, chemical and metabolic traits. A plain language summary is available for this article.	en_US
dc.relation	http://purl.org/au-research/grants/arc/DP140101150
dc.relation.ispartof	Functional Ecology	en_US
dc.relation.isbasedon	10.1111/1365-2435.13097	en_US
dc.subject.classification	Ecology	en_US
dc.title	A continental-scale assessment of variability in leaf traits: Within species, across sites and between seasons	en_US
dc.type	Journal Article
utslib.citation.volume	6	en_US
utslib.citation.volume	32	en_US
utslib.for	0607 Plant Biology	en_US
utslib.for	0502 Environmental Science and Management	en_US
utslib.for	05 Environmental Sciences	en_US
utslib.for	06 Biological Sciences	en_US
pubs.embargo.period	Not known	en_US
pubs.organisational-group	/University of Technology Sydney
pubs.organisational-group	/University of Technology Sydney/Faculty of Science
pubs.organisational-group	/University of Technology Sydney/Faculty of Science/School of Life Sciences
utslib.copyright.status	closed_access
pubs.issue	6	en_US
pubs.publication-status	Published	en_US
pubs.volume	32	en_US

Abstract:

© 2018 The Authors. Functional Ecology © 2018 British Ecological Society Plant species show considerable leaf trait variability that should be accounted for in dynamic global vegetation models (DGVMs). In particular, differences in the acclimation of leaf traits during periods more and less favourable to growth have rarely been examined. We conducted a field study of leaf trait variation at seven sites spanning a range of climates and latitudes across the Australian continent; 80 native plant species were included. We measured key traits associated with leaf structure, chemistry and metabolism during the favourable and unfavourable growing seasons. Leaf traits differed widely in the degree of seasonal variation displayed. Leaf mass per unit area (Ma) showed none. At the other extreme, seasonal variation accounted for nearly a third of total variability in dark respiration (Rdark). At the non-tropical sites, carboxylation capacity (Vcmax) at the prevailing growth temperature was typically higher in summer than in winter. When Vcmax was normalized to a common reference temperature (25°C), however, the opposite pattern was observed for about 30% of the species. This suggests that metabolic acclimation is possible, but far from universal. Intraspecific variation—combining measurements of individual plants repeated at contrasting seasons, different leaves from the same individual, and multiple conspecific plants at a given site—dominated total variation for leaf metabolic traits Vcmax and Rdark. By contrast, site location was the major source of variation (53%) for Ma. Interspecific trait variation ranged from only 13% of total variation for Vcmax up to 43% for nitrogen content per unit leaf area. These findings do not support a common practice in DGVMs of assigning fixed leaf trait values to plant functional types. Trait-based models should allow for interspecific differences, together with spatial and temporal plasticity in leaf structural, chemical and metabolic traits. A plain language summary is available for this article.

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http://hdl.handle.net/10453/128075