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- Title
PLASTICITY OF AESCULUS GLABRA (HIPPOCASTANACEAE) LEAF TRAITS ALONG SMALL-SCALE LIGHT GRADIENTS WITHIN FOREST STANDS.
- Authors
Hicks, David J.
- Abstract
Phenotypic plasticity in response to environmental heterogeneity is an important adaptive component of plant strategies. This study addresses plasticity of Aesculus glabra leaf traits in response to small-scale (within-canopy, within-stand) gradients of light availability in a temperate deciduous forest. Leaf mass per area, stomatal density, stomatal length, water content, leaf life span, and chlorophyll content were measured in two populations in northern Indiana. Light availability was determined through hemispherical canopy photography. Stomatal density, leaf mass per area, and leaf life span were positively correlated with light availability (r = 0.51, p < 0.001; r = 0.51, p < 0.001; r = 0.37, p = 0.02, respectively). Chlorophyll content on an area basis and water content were negatively correlated with light availability (r = -0.49, p = 0.002; r = -0.58, p < 0.001, respectively). Most correlations of these leaf characteristics with each other were significant. Chlorophyll content on a mass basis and stomatal length did not correlate with light availability. Leaf life span was longer in branches at the top of the crown than in self-shaded lower branches. Leaf traits in this species show significant plasticity in response to small-scale gradients of light availability. The increase in leaf lifespan with increasing light is atypical, and may be due to poor carbon balance of A. glabra under shaded conditions. Since this species leafs out before the canopy does, it is unclear how it perceives and responds appropriately to the full-canopy light environment.
- Subjects
MATERIAL plasticity; OHIO buckeye; PHENOTYPIC plasticity; ECOLOGICAL heterogeneity; CHLOROPHYLL; PLANT canopies
- Publication
Proceedings of the Indiana Academy of Science, 2015, Vol 124, Issue 1, p8
- ISSN
0073-6767
- Publication type
Article