Background and aims

Leaf economic spectrum is described by key leaf economic traits, such as leaf tissue density (LTD), specific leaf area (SLA) and leaf nitrogen concentration (LNC). It has been suggested that these key leaf economic traits are associated with leaf anatomy. However, few studies have specifically investigated how leaf anatomical structure affects the key leaf economic traits across co-existing species.

Methods

Here, we examined three key leaf traits (LTD, SLA and LNC) and leaf anatomical traits of 102 species in temperate forests.

Results

We observed that the species with high vein fraction per leaf volume/high vein length per leaf area had high LTD. In comparison with vein length per leaf area, vein fraction per leaf volume better explained the variations in LTD across co-existing species. Moreover, the species with high fraction of palisade tissue across transverse section exhibited high LNC. Additionally, a weak correlation between SLA and palisade tissue fraction across transverse section was detected, indicating that co-existing species can maximize light capture and C assimilation by both concurrently increasing SLA and maintaining relatively stable fraction of palisade tissue.

Conclusion

These results indicate that leaf anatomical structure may determine key leaf economic traits. The findings provide an important insight into the leaf economic spectrum from the perspective of leaf anatomical structure.

中文翻译：

---

温带森林共存物种的叶片解剖结构与关键叶片经济性状之间的联系

 背景和目标

叶片经济谱由关键叶片经济性状描述，如叶片组织密度 (LTD)、比叶面积 (SLA) 和叶片氮浓度 (LNC)。有人认为这些关键的叶子经济性状与叶子解剖结构有关。然而，很少有研究专门调查叶子解剖结构如何影响共存物种的关键叶子经济性状。

 方法

在这里，我们研究了温带森林 102 个物种的三个关键叶子性状（LTD、SLA 和 LNC）和叶子解剖学特征。

 结果

我们观察到每叶体积的静脉分数高/每叶面积的静脉长度高的物种具有高LTD。与每叶面积的静脉长度相比，每叶体积的静脉分数更好地解释了共存物种之间LTD的变化。此外，横截面栅栏组织比例高的物种表现出高 LNC。此外，在横截面上检测到 SLA 和栅栏组织分数之间的弱相关性，表明共存物种可以通过同时增加 SLA 和维持栅栏组织相对稳定的分数来最大化光捕获和 C 同化。

 结论

这些结果表明，叶片解剖结构可能决定叶片的关键经济性状。这些发现从叶子解剖结构的角度提供了对叶子经济谱的重要见解。