The anatomical and compositional basis of leaf mass per area

Leaf dry mass per unit leaf area (LMA) is a central trait in ecology, but its anatomical and compositional basis has been unclear. An explicit mathematical and physical framework for quantifying the cell and tissue determinants of LMA will enable tests of their influence on species, communities and...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Ecology letters 2017-04, Vol.20 (4), p.412-425
Main Authors: John, Grace P., Scoffoni, Christine, Buckley, Thomas N., Villar, Rafael, Poorter, Hendrik, Sack, Lawren, Maherali, Hafiz
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Biodiversity
Deciduous
evergreen
functional traits
leaf anatomy
leaf density
leaf economics
leaf thickness
Life History Traits
Magnoliopsida - anatomy & histology
Magnoliopsida - physiology
mesophyll
Models, Biological
Plant ecology
Plant Leaves - anatomy & histology
Plant Leaves - physiology
SLA
specific leaf area
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Summary:Leaf dry mass per unit leaf area (LMA) is a central trait in ecology, but its anatomical and compositional basis has been unclear. An explicit mathematical and physical framework for quantifying the cell and tissue determinants of LMA will enable tests of their influence on species, communities and ecosystems. We present an approach to explaining LMA from the numbers, dimensions and mass densities of leaf cells and tissues, which provided unprecedented explanatory power for 11 broadleaved woody angiosperm species diverse in LMA (33–262 g m−2; R2 = 0.94; P 
ISSN:1461-023X
1461-0248
DOI:10.1111/ele.12739