THE LEAF-AREA SHRINKAGE EFFECT CAN BIAS PALEOCLIMATE AND ECOLOGY RESEARCH
THE LEAF-AREA SHRINKAGE EFFECT CAN BIAS PALEOCLIMATE AND ECOLOGY RESEARCH
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DOI：
10.3732/ajb.1200062
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发表时间：
2012-11-01
影响因子：
3
通讯作者：
Enquist, Brian J.
中科院分区：
文献类型：
--
作者：
Blonder, Benjamin;Buzzard, Vanessa;Enquist, Brian J.
研究前提：叶面积是连接植物形态、功能和环境的关键性状。叶面积的测量可能是有偏差的，因为叶面积通常是从收缩了未知数量的干燥或化石标本中估计出来的。我们检验了这种收缩可以忽略不计的普遍假设。方法：我们通过比较380种温带和热带树种的3401片叶的干叶面积和鲜叶面积来测量收缩，并使用系统发育和基于性状的方法来确定这种收缩的预测因子。我们还测试了复水和模拟石化对四种植物收缩的影响。关键结果：我们发现干燥的叶子面积平均收缩22%，最大收缩82%。干叶干缩率可用多种形态性状预测，标准偏差为7.8%。我们还发现，压缩石化的替代指标泥土埋藏引起的收缩可以忽略不计，而复水处理干燥的标本可以消除收缩。结论：我们的发现表明，收缩的量是由叶面积、叶厚度、常青度和木质的变化驱动的，可以通过复水来逆转。干缩量也可能是一个有用的性状，与抗旱性和植物生活史的生态和生理差异有关。
Premise of the Study: Leaf area is a key trait that links plant form, function, and environment. Measures of leaf area can be biased because leaf area is often estimated from dried or fossilized specimens that have shrunk by an unknown amount. We tested the common assumption that this shrinkage is negligible.Methods: We measured shrinkage by comparing dry and fresh leaf area in 3401 leaves of 380 temperate and tropical species and used phylogenetic and trait-based approaches to determine predictors of this shrinkage. We also tested the effects of rehydration and simulated fossilization on shrinkage in four species.Key Results: We found that dried leaves shrink in area by an average of 22% and a maximum of 82%. Shrinkage in dried leaves can be predicted by multiple morphological traits with a standard deviation of 7.8%. We also found that mud burial, a proxy for compression fossilization, caused negligible shrinkage, and that rehydration, a potential treatment of dried herbarium specimens, eliminated shrinkage.Conclusions: Our findings indicate that the amount of shrinkage is driven by variation in leaf area, leaf thickness, evergreenness, and woodiness and can be reversed by rehydration. The amount of shrinkage may also be a useful trait related to ecologically and physiological differences in drought tolerance and plant life history.