Relationships among leaf traits of Australian arid zone plants: alternative modes of thermal protection

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Relationships among leaf traits of Australian arid zone plants: alternative modes of thermal protection

Please use this identifier to cite or link to this item: http://hdl.handle.net/1959.3/225494

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Title: Relationships among leaf traits of Australian arid zone plants: alternative modes of thermal protection
Author(s): Curtis, Ellen M.; Leigh, Andrea; Rayburg, Scott
Abstract: Despite the importance of leaf traits that protect against critically high leaf temperatures, relationships among such traits have not been investigated. Further, while some leaf trait relationships are well documented across biomes, little is known about such associations within a biome. This study investigated relationships between nine leaf traits that protect leaves against excessively high temperatures in 95 Australian arid zone species. Seven morphological traits were measured: leaf area, length, width, thickness, leaf mass per area (LMA), water content, and an inverse measure of pendulousness (LP). Two spectral properties were measured: reflectance of visible and near infrared radiation. Three key findings emerged: 1) LP decreased (pendulousness increased) with leaf size and LMA, the former relationship suggesting that pendulousness affords thermal protection when leaves are large; 2) LMA increased with thickness and decreased with water content, indicating alternative means for protection through increasing thermal mass; 3) spectral reflectance increased with LMA and thickness and decreased with water content. The consistent co-variation of thermal protective traits with LMA, a trait not usually associated with thermal protection, suggests that these traits fall along the leaf economics spectrum, with leaf longevity increasing through protection not only against structural damage but also against heat stress.
Publication type: Journal article
Research centre: Swinburne University of Technology. Faculty of Engineering and Industrial Sciences. Centre for Sustainable Infrastructure
Source: Australian Journal of Botany, Vol. 60, no. 6 (2012), pp. 471-483
Publication year: 2012
FOR Code(s): 0602 Ecology; 0605 Microbiology; 0607 Plant Biology
Keyword(s): Arid areas; Australia; Leaf traits; Leaves; Plants; Temperature; Thermal protection
Publisher: CSIRO Publishing
ISSN: 0067-1924
Publisher URL: http://dx.doi.org/10.1071/BT11284
Peer reviewed