Leaf Longevity as a Normalization Constant in Allometric Predictions of Plant Production

In metabolic scaling theory the size-dependence of plant processes is described by a power function of form Y=YoMθ where Y is a characteristic such as plant productivity that changes with plant size (M) raised to the θth power and Yo is a normalization constant that adjusts the general relationship across environments and species. In essence, the theory considers that the value of θ arises in the size-dependent relationship between leaf area and vascular architecture that influences plant function and that Yo modulates this general relationship to account for ecological and evolutionary effects on the exchange of resources between plant and environment. Enquist and colleagues have shown from first principles that Yo is a function of carbon use efficiency, the carbon fraction of a plant, the area-specific carbon assimilation rate of a leaf, the laminar area of a leaf, and the mass of a leaf. We show that leaf longevity provides a functional integration of these traits that can serve as a simpler normalization in scaling plant productivity for individual species and potentially for mixed-species communities as well.