Agriculture Reference
In-Depth Information
Floating leaves of
aquatic plants
Annual plants
Perennial herbaceous
plants
Temperate deciduous
trees
10
100
200
Leaf life span (days)
Fig. 5.1
Leaf longevity of plants of different growth forms. (From Kikuzawa and Ackerly 1999)
1000.00
100.00
10.00
1.00
0.10
0
200
400
600
Increasing rank
Fig. 5.2
Frequency distribution of leaf longevity for leaves of diverse species from a wide variety
of climate zones. (Data from Wright et al. 2004)
length of the growing season in temperate regions where many of the compiled data
were taken, but what might account for the 3.5-month longevity? This cluster of
species with rather rapid leaf turnover includes many fast-growing herbaceous and
woody species from temperate regions, which reflects a dichotomy between
deciduous species that produce only one set of leaves per season and others which
produce leaves throughout the season. Even within a single climatic regime there are
