Variation in leaf morphological, stomatal, and anatomical traits and their relationships in temperate and subtropical forests.

ABSTRACT: Leaf functional traits have attracted the attention of ecologists for several decades, but few studies have systematically assessed leaf morphological traits (termed "economic traits"), stomatal (termed "hydraulic"), and anatomical traits of entire forest communities, thus it is unclear whether their relationships are consistent among trees, shrubs, and herbs, and which anatomical traits should be assigned to economical or hydraulic traits. In this study, we collected leaf samples of 106 plant species in temperate forests and 164 plant species in subtropical forests and determined nine key functional traits. We found that functional traits differed between temperate and subtropical forests. Leaf traits also differed between different plant functional groups, irrespective of forest type; dr

SUBMITTER: Liu C 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC6456615 | biostudies-literature | 2019 Apr

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature