IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/nat/nature/v428y2004i6985d10.1038_nature02403.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

The worldwide leaf economics spectrum

Author

Listed:
  • Ian J. Wright

    (Macquarie University)

  • Peter B. Reich

    (University of Minnesota)

  • Mark Westoby

    (Macquarie University)

  • David D. Ackerly

    (Stanford University)

  • Zdravko Baruch

    (Universidad Simón Bolivar)

  • Frans Bongers

    (Wageningen University)

  • Jeannine Cavender-Bares

    (Smithsonian Environmental Research Center)

  • Terry Chapin

    (University of Alaska)

  • Johannes H. C. Cornelissen

    (Vrije Universiteit)

  • Matthias Diemer

    (University of Zurich)

  • Jaume Flexas

    (Universidad de Illes Balears)

  • Eric Garnier

    (Centre d'Ecologie Fonctionnelle et Evolutive, CNRS, UMR 5175)

  • Philip K. Groom

    (Curtin University of Technology)

  • Javier Gulias

    (Universidad de Illes Balears)

  • Kouki Hikosaka

    (Tohoku University)

  • Byron B. Lamont

    (Curtin University of Technology)

  • Tali Lee

    (University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire)

  • William Lee

    (Landcare Research)

  • Christopher Lusk

    (Universidad de Concepción)

  • Jeremy J. Midgley

    (University of Cape Town)

  • Marie-Laure Navas

    (Centre d'Ecologie Fonctionnelle et Evolutive, CNRS, UMR 5175)

  • Ülo Niinemets

    (University of Tartu)

  • Jacek Oleksyn

    (University of Minnesota
    Polish Academy of Sciences, Institute of Dendrology)

  • Noriyuki Osada

    (University of Tokyo)

  • Hendrik Poorter

    (Utrecht University)

  • Pieter Poot

    (School of Plant Biology, University of Western Australia)

  • Lynda Prior

    (Charles Darwin University, Northern Territory)

  • Vladimir I. Pyankov

    (Ural State University)

  • Catherine Roumet

    (Centre d'Ecologie Fonctionnelle et Evolutive, CNRS, UMR 5175)

  • Sean C. Thomas

    (Faculty of Forestry, University of Toronto)

  • Mark G. Tjoelker

    (Texas A&M University)

  • Erik J. Veneklaas

    (School of Plant Biology, University of Western Australia)

  • Rafael Villar

    (Universidad de Córdoba)

Abstract

Bringing together leaf trait data spanning 2,548 species and 175 sites we describe, for the first time at global scale, a universal spectrum of leaf economics consisting of key chemical, structural and physiological properties. The spectrum runs from quick to slow return on investments of nutrients and dry mass in leaves, and operates largely independently of growth form, plant functional type or biome. Categories along the spectrum would, in general, describe leaf economic variation at the global scale better than plant functional types, because functional types overlap substantially in their leaf traits. Overall, modulation of leaf traits and trait relationships by climate is surprisingly modest, although some striking and significant patterns can be seen. Reliable quantification of the leaf economics spectrum and its interaction with climate will prove valuable for modelling nutrient fluxes and vegetation boundaries under changing land-use and climate.

Suggested Citation

  • Ian J. Wright & Peter B. Reich & Mark Westoby & David D. Ackerly & Zdravko Baruch & Frans Bongers & Jeannine Cavender-Bares & Terry Chapin & Johannes H. C. Cornelissen & Matthias Diemer & Jaume Flexas, 2004. "The worldwide leaf economics spectrum," Nature, Nature, vol. 428(6985), pages 821-827, April.
    • Handle: RePEc:nat:nature:v:428:y:2004:i:6985:d:10.1038_nature02403
    DOI: 10.1038/nature02403
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.nature.com/articles/nature02403
    File Function: Abstract
    Download Restriction: Access to the full text of the articles in this series is restricted.
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1038/nature02403?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    More about this item

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:nat:nature:v:428:y:2004:i:6985:d:10.1038_nature02403. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    We have no bibliographic references for this item. You can help adding them by using this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Sonal Shukla or Springer Nature Abstracting and Indexing (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.nature.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.