Leaf allocation improves predictability of interspecific growth rates in a broadleaf deciduous temperate forest.

ABSTRACT: Understanding the relationships between species' demography and functional traits is crucial for gaining a mechanistic understanding of community dynamics. While leaf morphology represents a key functional dimension for plants worldwide (i.e., the leaf economics spectrum), its ability to explain variation in trees' life history strategies remains limited. Plant growth is influenced by both leaf morphology and allocation; hence, incorporating both dimensions is essential but rarely done. Additionally, trait-performance relationships have mainly been studied in tropical communities, leaving gaps in our understanding of temperate forests where different seasonality patterns may alter these relationships. We examined whether species' leaf area index (leaf area per crown size, LAI), a measure o

SUBMITTER: Ho MCN 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC12432972 | biostudies-literature | 2025 Sep

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature