Agriculture Reference
In-Depth Information
Chapter 9
Biogeography of Leaf Longevity
and Foliar Habit
Tropical montane forest on Mt. Kinabalu, Borneo
There is, apparently, no general restriction on variation in leaf longevity per se
along local and regional spatial gradients. Leaf longevity is only part of a suite of
foliar traits that act in concert to ensure effective photosynthetic function in a given
environmental regime (Wright et al. 2004; Shipley et al. 2006). Coordinated quan-
titative variation among the set of foliar traits can underpin equivalently effective
photosynthetic function despite considerable variation in leaf longevity (Marks and
Lechowicz 2006). As a consequence, leaf longevity typically varies substantially
among species even in a single locality, a point made forcefully in earlier chapters
but worth reinforcing here with another example. A careful study of 100 species
representing four growth forms in the understory of a tropical montane forest
(Fig.
9.1
) shows the high variability in leaf survivorship curves among co-occurring
