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Relationships between leaf mass per area and nutrient concentrations in 98 Mediterranean woody species are determined by phylogeny, habitat and leaf habit

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This study reinforces the existence of the leaf economics spectrum in Mediterranean woody species, and demonstrates the strong influence of phylogeny, leaf habit and environmental context as main drivers of variability in structural and nutrient traits of leaves.

Abstract

Leaf structural and nutrient traits are key attributes of plant ecological strategies, as these traits are related to resource-use strategies and plant growth. However, leaf structure and nutrient composition can vary among different habitats, leaf habits or phylogenetic groups. In this study, we measured 13 leaf traits (one structural—leaf mass per area, LMA—and 12 nutrient traits) in 98 Mediterranean woody species growing over a wide range of environmental conditions, with the final aim of discerning the main causes of leaf trait variability. The variance decomposition results show that phylogeny, leaf habit and habitat type affected in several ways the structural and nutrient traits studied. Leaf nutrient concentrations are strongly positively correlated amongst themselves, and negatively correlated with LMA, in accordance with the “leaf economics spectrum”. We found that leaf habit and phylogeny were important causes of variation in LMA and in a broad number of leaf nutrients (i.e., C, N, Mg, S, K), while other micronutrients seemed to be more dependent on the environment (i.e., Cu and Mn). In summary, our study reinforces the existence of the leaf economics spectrum in a broad pool of Mediterranean woody species, and demonstrates the strong influence of phylogeny, leaf habit and environmental context as the main drivers of variability in some leaf structural and nutrient traits.

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Acknowledgements

We thank C. Navarro-Fernández, M. Olmo, C. Aponte, M. Domínguez and A. Herrero for their help in the sampling and processing of leaves. Dr. David Walker revised the English. This study was funded by the Spanish MEC coordinated project DIVERBOS (CGL2011-30285-C02-01 and C02-02), the Andalusian ANASINQUE project (PGC2010-RNM-5782), the Life + Biodehesa Project (11/BIO/ES/000726), ECO-MEDIT (CGL2014-53236-R), RESTECO (CGL2014-52858-R) and European FEDER funds.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Área de Ecología, Facultad de Ciencias, Universidad de Cordoba, 14071, Cordoba, Spain

    Enrique G. de la Riva & Rafael Villar

  2. Estación Biológica de Doñana (EBD-CSIC), Av. Américo Vespucio s/n, Isla de la Cartuja, 41092, Seville, Spain

    Enrique G. de la Riva

  3. Instituto de Recursos Naturales y Agrobiología de Sevilla, IRNAS, CSIC, 41012, Seville, Spain

    Ignacio M. Pérez-Ramos, Luis Matías & Teodoro Marañón

  4. Departamento de Ingeniería Forestal, ETSIAM, Universidad de Córdoba, 14071, Córdoba, Spain

    José Luis Quero

  5. Forest Ecology and Forest Management Group, Wageningen University and Research, P.O. Box 47, 6700 AA, Wageningen, The Netherlands

    Lourens Poorter

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  1. Enrique G. de la Riva
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  2. Rafael Villar
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  3. Ignacio M. Pérez-Ramos
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  4. José Luis Quero
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  5. Luis Matías
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  6. Lourens Poorter
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  7. Teodoro Marañón
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Correspondence to Enrique G. de la Riva.

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de la Riva, E.G., Villar, R., Pérez-Ramos, I.M. et al. Relationships between leaf mass per area and nutrient concentrations in 98 Mediterranean woody species are determined by phylogeny, habitat and leaf habit. Trees 32, 497–510 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00468-017-1646-z

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