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Open AccessArticle
The “Leafing Intensity Premium” Hypothesis and the Scaling Relationships of the Functional Traits of Bamboo Species
1
Co-Innovation Center for Sustainable Forestry in Southern China, Bamboo Research Institute, Nanjing Forestry University, #159 Longpan Road, Nanjing 210037, China
2
College of Landscape Architecture, Nanjing Forestry University, #159 Longpan Road, Nanjing 210037, China
3
School of Integrative Plant Science, Cornell University, 236 Tower Road, Ithaca, NY 14853, USA
*
Authors to whom correspondence should be addressed.
Plants 2024, 13(16), 2340; https://doi.org/10.3390/plants13162340 (registering DOI)
Submission received: 10 July 2024
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Revised: 15 August 2024
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Accepted: 21 August 2024
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Published: 22 August 2024
Abstract
The “leafing intensity premium” hypothesis proposes that leaf size results from natural selection acting on different leafing intensities, i.e., the number of leaves per unit shoot volume or mass. The scaling relationships among various above-ground functional traits in the context of this hypothesis are important for understanding plant growth and ecology. Yet, they have not been sufficiently studied. In this study, we selected four bamboo species of the genus Indocalamus Nakai and measured the total leaf fresh mass per culm, total non-leaf above-ground fresh mass, total number of leaves per culm, and above-ground culm height of 90 culms from each species. These data were used to calculate leafing intensity (i.e., the total number of leaves per culm divided by the total non-leaf above-ground fresh mass) and mean leaf fresh mass per culm (i.e., the total leaf fresh mass per culm divided by the total number of leaves per culm). Reduced major axis regression protocols were then used to determine the scaling relationships among the various above-ground functional traits and leafing intensity. Among the four species, three exhibited an isometric (one-to-one) relationship between the total leaf fresh mass per culm and the total non-leaf above-ground fresh mass, whereas one species (Indocalamus pumilus) exhibited an allometric (not one-to-one) relationship. A negative isometric relationship was found between the mean leaf fresh mass per culm and the leafing intensity for one species (Indocalamus pedalis), whereas three negative allometric relationships between mean leaf fresh mass per culm and leafing intensity were observed for the other three species and the pooled data. An exploration of the alternative definitions of “leafing intensity” showed that the total number of leaves per culm divided by the above-ground culm height is superior because it facilitates the non-destructive calculation of leafing intensity for Indocalamus species. These results not only confirm the leafing intensity premium hypothesis for bamboo species but also highlight the interconnected scaling relationships among different functional traits, thereby contributing to our understanding of the ecological and evolutionary significance of leaf size variation and biomass investment strategies.
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MDPI and ACS Style
Yao, W.; Shi, P.; Wang, J.; Mu, Y.; Cao, J.; Niklas, K.J.
The “Leafing Intensity Premium” Hypothesis and the Scaling Relationships of the Functional Traits of Bamboo Species. Plants 2024, 13, 2340.
https://doi.org/10.3390/plants13162340
AMA Style
Yao W, Shi P, Wang J, Mu Y, Cao J, Niklas KJ.
The “Leafing Intensity Premium” Hypothesis and the Scaling Relationships of the Functional Traits of Bamboo Species. Plants. 2024; 13(16):2340.
https://doi.org/10.3390/plants13162340
Chicago/Turabian Style
Yao, Weihao, Peijian Shi, Jinfeng Wang, Youying Mu, Jiajie Cao, and Karl J. Niklas.
2024. "The “Leafing Intensity Premium” Hypothesis and the Scaling Relationships of the Functional Traits of Bamboo Species" Plants 13, no. 16: 2340.
https://doi.org/10.3390/plants13162340
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