Climate and symbioses with ants modulate leaf/stem scaling in epiphytes.

ABSTRACT: In most seed plants, leaf size is isometrically related to stem cross-sectional area, a relationship referred to as Corner's rule. When stems or leaves acquire a new function, for instance in ant-plant species with hollow stems occupied by ants, their scaling is expected to change. Here we use a lineage of epiphytic ant-plants to test how the evolution of ant-nesting structures in species with different levels of symbiotic dependence has impacted leaf/stem scaling. We expected that leaf size would correlate mostly with climate, while stem diameter would change with domatium evolution. Using a trait dataset from 286 herbarium specimens, field and greenhouse observations, climatic data, and a range of phylogenetic-comparative analyses, we detected significant shifts in leaf/stem scaling, mir

SUBMITTER: Chomicki G 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC6385368 | biostudies-literature | 2019 Feb

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature