Predictability of leaf traits with climate and elevation: a case study in Gongga Mountain, China.

ABSTRACT: Leaf mass per area (Ma), nitrogen content per unit leaf area (Narea), maximum carboxylation capacity (Vcmax) and the ratio of leaf-internal to ambient CO2 partial pressure (χ) are important traits related to photosynthetic function, and they show systematic variation along climatic and elevational gradients. Separating the effects of air pressure and climate along elevational gradients is challenging due to the covariation of elevation, pressure and climate. However, recently developed models based on optimality theory offer an independent way to predict leaf traits and thus to separate the contributions of different controls. We apply optimality theory to predict variation in leaf traits across 18 sites in the Gongga Mountain region. We show that the models explain 59% of trait variabilit

SUBMITTER: Xu H 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC8454210 | biostudies-literature | 2021 Aug

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature