link.springer.com

Leaf dynamics, self-shading and carbon gain in seedlings of a tropical pioneer tree - Oecologia

  • ️Bazzaz, F. A.
  • ️Wed Mar 01 1995

Abstract

We examined leaf dynamics and leaf age gradients of photosynthetic capacity and nitrogen concentration in seedlings of the tropical pioneer tree, Heliocarpus appendiculatus, grown in a factorial design under controlled conditions with two levels each of nutrients, ambient light (light levels incident above the canopy), and self-shading (the gradient of light levels from upper to lower leaves on the shoot). Correlations among these parameters were examined in order to determine the influence of self-shading, and the regulation of standing leaf numbers, on leaf longevity and its association with leaf photosynthetic capacity. Leaf longevity and the number of leaves on the main shoot were both reduced in high light, while in the low light environment, they were reduced in the steeper self-shading gradient. In high nutrients, leaf longevity was reduced whereas leaf number increased. Leaf initiation rates were higher in the high nutrient treatment but were not influenced by either light treatment. Maximum-light saturated photosynthetic rate, on an area basis, was greater in the high light and nutrient treatments, while the decline in photosynthetic capacity in realtion to leaf position on the shoot was more rapid in high light and in low nutrients. Leaf longevity was negatively correlated among treatments with initial photosynthetic capacity. The leaf position at which photosynthetic capacity was predicted to reach zero was positively correlated with the number of leaves on the shoot, supporting the hypothesis that leaf numbers are regulated by patterns of self-shading. The negative association of longevity and initial photosynthetic capacity apparently arises from different associations among gradients of photosynthetic capacity, leaf numbers and leaf initiation rates in relation to light and nutrient availability. The simultaneous consideration of age and position of leaves illuminates the role of self-shading as an important factor influencing leaf senescence and canopy structure and dynamics.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Subscribe and save

  • Get 10 units per month
  • Download Article/Chapter or eBook
  • 1 Unit = 1 Article or 1 Chapter
  • Cancel anytime
Subscribe now

Buy Now

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  • Ackerly DD (1993) Phenotypic plasticity and the scale of environmental heterogeneity: studies of tropical pioneer trees in variable light environments. Ph. D. thesis, Harvard University, Cambridge, Mass

  • Ackerly DD, Coleman JS, Morse SR, Bazzaz FA (1992) CO2 and temperature effects on leaf area production in two annual plant species. Ecology 73: 1260–1269

    Google Scholar 

  • Bazzaz FA (1984) Dynamics of wet tropical forests and their species strategies. In: Medina E, Mooney HA, Vázquez-Yanes C (eds) Physiological ecology of plants of the wet tropics. Junk, The Hague, pp 233–243

    Google Scholar 

  • Bazzaz FA, Harper JL (1977) Demographic analysis of the growth of Linum usitatissimum. New Phytol 78: 193–208

    Google Scholar 

  • Bongers F, Popma J (1990) Leaf dynamics of seedlings of rain forest species in relation to canopy gaps. Oecologia 82: 122–127

    Google Scholar 

  • Chapin FS III, Moilanen L (1991) Nutritional controls over nitrogen and phosphorous resorption from Alaskan birch leaves. Ecology 72: 709–715

    Google Scholar 

  • Chazdon RL (1986) The costs of leaf support in understory palms: Economy versus safety. Am Nat 127: 9–30

    Google Scholar 

  • Coley PD (1983) Herbivory and defensive characteristics of tree species in a lowland tropical forest. Ecol Monogr 53: 209–233

    Google Scholar 

  • Corner EJH (1966) The natural history of palms. University of California Press, Berkeley, Calif

    Google Scholar 

  • Erickson RO, Michelini FJ (1957) The plastochron index. Am J Bot 44: 297–305

    Google Scholar 

  • Field CB (1983) Allocating leaf nitrogen for the maximization of carbon gain: leaf age as a control on the allocation program. Oecologia 56: 341–347

    Google Scholar 

  • Ford H (1982) Leaf demography and the plastochron index. Biol J Linn Soc 17: 361–373

    Google Scholar 

  • Gill AM, Tomlinson PB (1971) Studies on the growth of red mangrove (Rhizophora mangle L.) 3. Phenology of the shoot. Biotropica 3: 109–124

    Google Scholar 

  • Hirose T, Werger MJA (1987a) Maximizing daily carbon photosynthesis with respect to the leaf nitrogen allocation pattern in the canopy. Oecologia 72: 520–526

    Google Scholar 

  • Hirose T, Werger MJA (1987b) Nitrogen use efficiency in instantaneous and daily photosynthesis of leaves in the canopy of a Solidago altissima stand. Physiol Plant 70: 215–222

    Google Scholar 

  • Hopkinson JM (1966) Studies on the expansion of the leaf surface. VI. Senescence and the usefulness of old leaves. J Exp Bot 17: 762–770

    Google Scholar 

  • Kikuzawa K (1983) Leaf survival of woody plants in deciduous broad-leaved forests. 1. Tall trees. Can J Bot 61: 2133–2139

    Google Scholar 

  • Kikuzawa K (1984) Leaf survival of woody plants in deciduous broad-leaved forests. 2. Small trees and shrubs. Can J Bot 62: 2551–2556

    Google Scholar 

  • Kikuzawa K (1989) Ecology and evolution of phenological pattern, leaf longevity and leaf habit. Evol Trends Plant 3: 105–110

    Google Scholar 

  • Kikuzawa K (1991) A cost-benefit analysis of leaf habit and leaf longevity of trees and their geographical pattern. Am Nat 138: 1250–1263

    Google Scholar 

  • King DA (1994) Influence of light level on the growth and morphology of saplings in a Panamanian forest. Am J Bot 81: 948–957

    Google Scholar 

  • Lowman MD (1992) Leaf growth dynamics and herbivory in five species of Australian rain-forest canopy trees. J Ecol 80: 433–447

    Google Scholar 

  • Marquis RJ (1992) A bite is a bite is a bite? Constraints on response to folivory in Piper arieianum (Piperaceae). Ecology 73: 143–152

    Google Scholar 

  • Miller P, Stoner W (1979) Canopy structure and environmental interactions. In: Solbrig OT, Jain S, Johnson GB, Raven PH (eds) Topics in plant population biology. Columbia University Press, New York, pp 428–460

    Google Scholar 

  • Monsi M, Saeki T (1953) Über den Lichtfactor in den Pflanzengesellschaften und seine Bedeutung für die Stoffproduktion. Jpn J Bot 14: 22–52

    Google Scholar 

  • Mooney HA, Field C, Gulmon SL, Bazzaz FA (1981) Photosynthetic capacity in relation to leaf position in desert versus old-field annuals. Oecologia 50: 109–112

    Google Scholar 

  • Nilsen ET (1986) Quantitative phenology and leaf survivorship of Rhododendron maximum in contrasting irradiance environments of the southern Appalachian Mountains. Am J Bot 73: 822–831

    Google Scholar 

  • Núñez-Farfán J, Dirzo R (1989) Leaf survival in relation to herbivory in two tropical pioneer species. Oikos 54: 71–74

    Google Scholar 

  • Núñez-Farfán J, Dirzo R (1991) Effects of defoliation on growth and survival of the saplings of a gap-colonizing neotropical tree. J Veg Sci 2: 459–464

    Google Scholar 

  • Popma J, Bongers F (1988) The effect of canopy gaps on growth and morphology of seedlings of rain-forest species. Oecologia 75: 625–632

    Google Scholar 

  • Reich PB (1993) Reconciling apparent discrepancies among studies relating life span, structure and function of leaves in contrasting plant life forms and climates: ‘the blind men and the elephant retold’. Funct Ecol 7: 721–725

    Google Scholar 

  • Reich PB, Uhl C, Walters MB, Ellsworth DS (1991a) Leaf lifespan as a determinant of leaf structure and function among 23 Amazonian tree species. Oecologia 86: 16–24

    Google Scholar 

  • Reich PB, Walters MB, Ellsworth DS (1991b) Leaf age and season influence the relationships between leaf nitrogen leaf mass per area and photosynthesis in maple and oak trees. Plant Cell Environ 14: 251–259

    Google Scholar 

  • Reich PB, Walters MB, Ellsworth DS (1992) Leaf life-span in relation to leaf, plant, and stand characteristics among diverse ecosystems. Ecol Monogr 62: 365–392

    Google Scholar 

  • Schoettle AW (1990) The interaction between leaf longevity and shoot growth and foliar biomass per shoot in Pinus contorta at two elevations. Tree Physiol 7: 209–214

    Google Scholar 

  • Schoettle AW, Smith WK (1991) Interrelation between shoot characteristics and solar irradiance in the crown of Pinus contorta ssp. latifolia. Tree Physiol 9: 245–254

    Google Scholar 

  • Shaver GR (1981) Mineral nutrition and leaf longevity in an evergreen shrub, Ledum palustre ssp. decumbens. Oecologia 49: 362–365

    Google Scholar 

  • Strauss-Debenedetti SI (1989) Responses to light in tropical Moraceae of different successional stages. Ph. D. thesis, Yale University

  • Traw MB, Ackerly DD (1995) Leaf age, light levels and nitrogen allocation in five species of rain forest pioneer trees. Am J Bot (in press)

  • White PS (1983a) Corner's rules in eastern deciduous trees: allometry and its implications for the adaptive architecture of trees. Bull Torrey Bot Club 110: 203–212

    Google Scholar 

  • White PS (1983b) Evidence that temperate east North American evergreen woody plants follow Corner's rules. New Phytol 95: 139–145

    Google Scholar 

  • Williams K, Field CB, Mooney HA (1989) Relationships among leaf construction cost, leaf longevity, and light environments in rain-forest plants of the genus Piper. Am Nat 133: 198–211

    Google Scholar 

  • Woledge J (1972) The effect of shading on the photosynthetic rate and longevity of grass leaves. Ann Bot (Lond) 36: 551–561

    Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Author notes

  1. D. D. Ackerly

    Present address: Harvard University Herbaria, 22 Divinity Avenue, 02138, Cambridge, MA, USA

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Organismic and Evolutionary Biology, Harvard University, 02138, Cambridge, MA, USA

    D. D. Ackerly & F. A. Bazzaz

Authors

  1. D. D. Ackerly

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. F. A. Bazzaz

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

About this article

Cite this article

Ackerly, D.D., Bazzaz, F.A. Leaf dynamics, self-shading and carbon gain in seedlings of a tropical pioneer tree. Oecologia 101, 289–298 (1995). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00328814

Download citation

  • Received: 26 April 1994

  • Accepted: 07 October 1994

  • Issue Date: March 1995

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00328814

Key words