The presence of leaf pubescence (leaf hairs) in Encelia farinosa, a desert species of the Composite family, reduces the absorptance of photosynthetically active radiation (400 to 700 nanometers) by as much as 56 percent more than a closely related but nonpubescent species, E. californica, a native of the relatively moist southern California coast. Pubescence in E. farinosa, which increases through the growing season, modifies the leaf energy balance and dramatically reduces the photosynthetic rate. The reduction in the photosynthetic rate is caused by decreased light absorption rather than decreased carbon dioxide conductance through the boundary layer.

In five California evergreen trees and shrubs cooccurring in this study but most common in habitats of different moisture availability, leaf nitrogen was a major determinant of photosynthetic capacity. Within each species, stomatal conductance was highly correlated with photosynthetic capacity, resulting in little variation in the concentration of CO2 in the intercellular spaces. Among species, intercellular CO2 concentrations varied significantly. Under controlled conditions, the leaves that realized the highest photosynthesis per unit of leaf nitrogen tended to realize the lowest photosynthesis per unit of water transpired. The ratio of photosynthesis to transpiration, an instantaneous measure of intrinsic water-use efficiency, was highest in the species commonly found in the direst habitats and lowest in the species most common in the wettes habitats.

The influence of leaf orientation on leaf temperature has been studied in an sclerophyll vegetation of the Amazon basin, which grows on white sandy soils of very low water retention capacity and variable depth of the water table. Leaf size of the species studied is mainly mesophyllous (sensu Raunkiaer). The high degree of leaf inclination in all species is very characteristic; 55% of the leaves present inclination angles (relative to the vertical) smaller than 45 degrees. Water potential is generally high, not being lower than -14 bars. Leaf resistance increases toward noon during the course of sunny days, indicating either water stress at leaf level or the influence of low relative humidity on stomata opening. Leaf temperature under sunny conditions reflects the influence of leaf orientation on the amount of radiation absorbed by the leaf. Temperature differences recorded range from 1.8--5.4 degrees C. The difference depends on leaf angle, leaf color and leaf diffusion resistance during the period of measurement. Analysis of the relationship between leaf angle and leaf temperature, using Gates leaf energy balance, shows that under the conditions prevailing at noon in sunny days, leaf angles smaller than 50 degrees are effective in reducing leaf temperature within a wide range of leaf resistances to water vapor transfer.

T(cup), underestimation of leaf resistance occurs; the reverse applies when T(leaf)

Although curvature of biological surfaces has been considered from mathematical and biophysical perspectives, its molecular and developmental basis is unclear. We have studied the cin mutant of Antirrhinum, which has crinkly rather than flat leaves. Leaves of cin display excess growth in marginal regions, resulting in a gradual introduction of negative curvature during development. This reflects a change in the shape and the progression of a cell-cycle arrest front moving from the leaf tip toward the base. CIN encodes a TCP protein and is expressed downstream of the arrest front. We propose that CIN promotes zero curvature (flatness) by making cells more sensitive to an arrest signal, particularly in marginal regions.

The thermal response of gas exchange varies among plant species and with growth conditions. Plants from hot dry climates generally reach maximal photosynthetic rates at higher temperatures than species from temperate climates. Likewise, species in these environments are predicted to have small leaves with more-dissected shapes. We compared eight species of Pelargonium (Geraniaceae) selected as phylogenetically independent contrasts on leaf shape to determine whether: (1) the species showed plasticity in thermal response of gas exchange when grown under different water and temperature regimes, (2) there were differences among more- and less-dissected leafed species in trait means or plasticity, and (3) whether climatic variables were correlated with the responses. We found that a higher growth temperature led to higher optimal photosynthetic temperatures, at a cost to photosynthetic capacity. Optimal temperatures for photosynthesis were greater than the highest growth temperature regime. Stomatal conductance responded to growth water regime but not growth temperature, whereas transpiration increased and water use efficiency (WUE) decreased at the higher growth temperature. Strikingly, species with more-dissected leaves had higher rates of carbon gain and water loss for a given growth condition than those with less-dissected leaves. Species from lower latitudes and lower rainfall tended to have higher photosynthetic maxima and conductance, but leaf dissection did not correlate with climatic variables. Our results suggest that the combination of dissected leaves, higher photosynthetic rates, and relatively low WUE may have evolved as a strategy to optimize water delivery and carbon gain during short-lived periods of high soil moisture. Higher thermal optima, in conjunction with leaf dissection, may reflect selection pressure to protect photosynthetic machinery against excessive leaf temperatures when stomata close in response to water stress.

Cotton plants, Gossypium hirsutum L. were grown in a growth room under incident radiation levels of 65, 35, and 17 Langleys per hour to determine the effects of vapor pressure deficits (VPD's) of 2, 9, and 17 mm Hg at high soil water potential, and the effects of decreasing soil water potential and reirrigation on transpiration, leaf temperature, stomatal activity, photosynthesis, and respiration at a VPD of 9 mm Hg.Transpiration was positively correlated with radiation level, air VPD and soil water potential. Reirrigation following stress led to slow recovery, which may be related to root damage occurring during stress. Leaf water potential decreased with, but not as fast as, soil water potential.Leaf temperature was usually positively correlated with light intensity and negatively correlated with transpiration, air VPD, and soil water. At high soil water, leaf temperatures ranged from a fraction of 1 to a few degrees above ambient, except at medium and low light and a VPD of 19 mm Hg when they were slightly below ambient, probably because of increased transpirational cooling. During low soil water leaf temperatures as high as 3.4 degrees above ambient were recorded. Reirrigation reduced leaf temperature before appreciably increasing transpiration. The upper leaf surface tended to be warmer than the lower at the beginning of the day and when soil water was adequate; otherwise there was little difference or the lower surface was warmer. This pattern seemed to reflect transpiration cooling and leaf position effects.Although stomata were more numerous in the lower than the upper epidermis, most of the time a greater percentage of the upper were open. With sufficient soil water present, stomata opened with light and closed with darkness. Fewer stomata opened under low than high light intensity and under even moderate, as compared with high soil water. It required several days following reirrigation for stomata to regain original activity levels.Apparent photosynthesis of cotton leaves occasionally oscillated with variable amplitude and frequency. When soil water was adequate, photosynthesis was nearly proportional to light intensity, with some indication of higher rates at higher VPD's. As soil water decreased, photosynthesis first increased and then markedly decreased. Following reirrigation, photosynthesis rapidly recovered.Respiration was slowed moderately by decreasing soil water but increased before watering. Respiration slowed with increasing leaf age only on leaves that were previously under high light intensity.

Distribution of plants and the expression of traits associated with environmental variation can be affected by both average conditions and the variance in conditions including extreme climatic events. We expect that these same factors should affect the distribution of plants in hybrid zones between ecologically distinct species where the hybrids should occupy ecotones or intermediate habitats. We evaluated water availability and leaf morphological differences among parental and hybrid populations of herbaceous perennial plants in the Piriqueta caroliniana complex along environmental gradients in Southeastern North America. We focus on two taxa in this group; the viridis morphotype, which occurs in southern Florida, and the caroliniana morphotype, which is distributed from northern Florida to southern Georgia. Advanced-generation hybrid derivatives of these morphotypes occupy a broad geographic region that extends across much of central Florida. Overall, we found that hybrid populations occurred in significantly drier locations, indicating that their habitat requirements are transgressive (i.e., exceeding parental values) rather than intermediate to the parental morphotypes. Water availability differed between the two sampling years, and plants displayed morphological changes in response to these changes in moisture. During the drier year, leaves were narrower and more hirsute, corroborating experimental results that these leaf traits are plastic, and confirming that plasticity occurs in natural habitats. Hybrids exhibited intermediate leaf traits (shape and size) across both years, and displayed transgressive (hair density) leaf traits during the drier year. The apparent canalization of the hybrids’ leaf morphological traits may contribute to their tolerance of variable environmental conditions and may partially explain why they have displaced the caroliniana morphotype in central Florida.]]>

The ability to appropriately modify physiological and morphological traits in response to temporal variation should increase fitness. We used recombinant hybrid plants generated by crossing taxa in the Piriqueta caroliniana complex to assess the effects of individual leaf traits and trait plasticities on growth in a temporally variable environment. Recombinant hybrids were used to provide a wide range of trait expression and to allow an assessment of the independent effects of individual traits across a range of genetic backgrounds. Hybrid genotypes were replicated through vegetative propagation and planted in common gardens at Archbold Biological Station in Venus, Florida, where they were monitored for growth, leaf morphological characters, and integrated water use efficiency (WUE) (C isotope ratio; δ13C) for two successive seasons. Under wet conditions only leaf area had significant effects on plant growth, but as conditions became drier, growth rates were greatest in plants with narrow leaves and higher trichome densities. Plants with higher WUE exhibited increased growth during the dry season but not during the wet season. WUE during the dry season was increased for plants with smaller, narrower leaves that had higher trichome densities and increased reflectance. Examination of alternative path models revealed that during the dry season leaf traits had significant effects on plant growth only through their direct effects on WUE, as estimated from δ13C. Over the entire growing season, plants with a greater ability to produce smaller and narrower leaves with higher trichome densities in response to reduced water availability had the greatest growth rate. These findings suggest that plants making appropriate changes to leaf morphology as conditions became dry had increased WUE, and that the ability to adjust leaf phenotypes in response to environmental variation is a mechanism by which plants increase fitness.]]>

Teeth are conspicuous features of many leaves. The percentage of species in a flora with toothed leaves varies inversely with temperature, but other ecological controls are less known. This gap is critical because leaf teeth may be influenced by water availability and growth potential and because fossil tooth characters are widely used to reconstruct paleoclimate. Here, we test whether ecological attributes related to disturbance, water availability, and growth strategy influence the distribution of toothed species at 227 sites from Australian subtropical rainforest. Both the percentage and abundance of toothed species decline continuously from riparian to ridge-top habitats in our most spatially resolved sample, a result not related to phylogenetic correlation of traits. Riparian lianas are generally untoothed and thus do not contribute to the trend, and there is little association between toothed riparian species and ecological attributes indicating early successional lifestyle and disturbance response. Instead, the pattern is best explained by differences in water availability. Toothed species' proportional richness declines with proximity to the coast, also a likely effect of water availability because salt stress causes physiological drought. Our study highlights water availability as an important factor impacting the distribution of toothed species across landscapes, with significance for paleoclimate reconstructions.

300 mm of annual rainfall. Specific leaf area varied between 2 and 6 m2 kg(-1) and tended to increase with decreasing annual rainfall in some species, but not all, whereas delta 13C decreased with SLA. The relationship between delta 13C and SLA was highly species and soil-type specific. Leaf-area-based nitrogen (N) content varied between 2 and almost 6 g m(-2) and decreased with rainfall. Thus, thicker leaves were associated with higher N content and this compensated for the effect of drought on delta 13C. Nitrogen content was also related to soil type and species identity. Based on a linear mixed model, statistical analysis of the whole data set showed that 27% of the variation in delta 13C was associated with changes in SLA, 16% with soil type and only 1% with rainfall. Additionally, 21% was associated with species identity. For a subset of sites with > 300 mm rainfall, 43% of the variation was explained by SLA, 13% by soil type and only 3% by rainfall. The species effect decreased to 9% because there were fewer species in the subset of sites. The small effect of rainfall on delta 13C was further supported by a path analysis that yielded a standardized path coefficient of 0.38 for the effect of rainfall on SLA and -0.50 for the effect of SLA on delta 13C, but an insignificantly low standardized path coefficient of -0.05 for the direct effect of rainfall on delta 13C. Thus, in contrast to our hypothesis that delta 13C decreases with rainfall independent of soil type and species, we detected no statistically significant relationship between rainfall and delta 13C in leaves of trees growing at sites receiving

全球大幅度变暖,水循环加快,增强降水和蒸发.中国西北部从19世纪小冰期结束以来100a左右处于波动性变暖变干过程中.1987年起新疆以天山西部为主地区,出现了气候转向暖湿的强劲信号,降水量、冰川消融量和径流量连续多年增加,导致湖泊水位显著上升、洪水灾害猛烈增加、植被改善、沙尘暴减少.新疆其他地区以及祁连山中西段的降水和径流也有增加趋势.这样气候转型前景如何,是仅为年代际波动还是可发展为世纪性趋势,是只限于天山西部还是可能扩及整个西北以至华北.从引用现有区域气候模式预测,对径流变化模式预测和相似古气候情景的讨论,认为转向暖湿的趋势可以肯定,但目前尚不能确切预测转型扩大在时间上与空间上变化的速度和程度.

由于全球显著变暖和水循环加快,使得中国西北主要是新疆地区于1987年气候发生突然变化,随着温度上升,降水量、冰川消融量和径流量连续多年增加,内陆湖泊水位显著上升,洪水灾害也迅猛增加,同时,植被有所改善,沙尘暴日数锐减,从而改变了19世纪末期至20世纪70年代的变暖变干趋势.以降水量增加超过蒸发量增加所导致的径流量增长及湖泊水位上升作为气候向暖湿转型的主要标准,西北地区目前的气候变化可分为3个区域,即1)显著转型区;2)轻度转型区;3)未转型区.作者初步认为,西北气候向暖湿转型可能是世纪性的,预期西北东部在21世纪上半期也会向暖湿转变,但预测有较大的不确定性.

Surface temperatures of perennial plants in the Sonoran Desert of California ranged from 20 degrees C above air temperature to over 18 degrees C below air temperature during rapid growth periods following rain. Desert cactus with large photosynthetic stem surfaces had the highest temperatures and lowest transpiration rates. Perennial plants with relatively small leaves had moderate transpiration rates and leaf temperatures close to air temperature. Desert perennials with relatively large leaves had leaf temperatures well below air temperature along with the greatest accompanying transpiration rates of over 20 micrograms per square centimeter per second, but also had correspondingly low temperatures for maximum photosynthesis. The low leaf temperatures measured for these large-leafed species are an exception to the more common pattern for desert plants whereby a smaller leaf size prevents overheating and leads to reductions in transpiration and increased water-use efficiency. The contribution of a larger leaf size to a lower leaf temperature, and thus higher rate of photosynthesis for these large-leafed species, may represent an adaptive pattern previously unrecognized for desert plants.

The influence of variations in the boundary air layer thickness on transpirtion due to changes in leaf dimension or wind speed was evaluated at a given stomatal resistance (r s) for various combinations of air temperature (T a) and total absorbed solar energy expressed as a fraction of full sunlight (S ffs). Predicted transpiration was found to either increase or decrease for increases in leaf size depending on specific combinations of T a, S ffs, and r s. Major reductions in simulated transpiration with increasing leaf size occurred for shaded, highly reflective, or specially oriented leaves (S ffs=0.1) at relatively high T a when r s was below a critical value of near 500 s m(-1). Increases in S ffs and decreases in T a lowered this critical resistance to below 50 s m(-1) for S ffs=0.7 and T a=20 degrees C. In contrast, when r s was above this critical value, an increase in leaf dimension (or less wind) resulted in increases in transpiration, especially at high T a and S ffs. For several combinations of T a, S ffs, and r s, transpiration was minimal for a specific leaf size. These theoretical results were compared to field measurements on common desert, alpine, and subalpine plants to evaluate the possible interactions of leaf and environmental parameters that may serve to reduce transpiration in xeric habitats.

测定了中国东北森林—草原样带草原区15个常见植物种叶片的δ13C值，并以此作为植物长期水分利用效率的指示值，研究了不同植物种的水分利用效率对年均降水量、年均大气温度和海拔高度等环境梯度变化的响应。结果表明：有相当一部分植物种的δ13C值和水分利用效率均随年均降水量和年均温增加而呈不同程度的降低趋势(如羊草(Leymus chinensis(Trin．)Tzvel．)、家榆(Ulmus pumila L．)、小叶锦鸡儿(Caragana microphylla Lam．)、直立黄芪(Astragalus adsurgens Pall．)、地榆(Sanguisorba officinalis L．)和菊叶委陵菜(Potentila tanacetifolia Willd．ex Schlecht．)等)，随海拔高度增高而呈不同程度的增加趋势(如扁蓿豆(Melissitus ruthenicus(L．)Peschkova)、羊草、家榆、小叶锦鸡儿、直立黄芪、地榆等)：而少数几个种(如达乌里胡枝子(Lespedeza davurica(Laxm．)Schindl．)，麻花头(Serratula centauroide L．)等)则与大多数种的情况截然相反，另外部分植物种则随环境因子变化不大(达乌里黄芪(Astragalus dahuricus (Pall．)DC．)、中间锦鸡儿(Caragana intermedia Kuang et H．C.Fu)和狭叶锦鸡儿(Caragana stenophylla Pojark．)，冷蒿(Artemisia frigida Willd．)、糙叶黄芪(Astragalus scaberrimus Bunge)、甘草(Glycyrrhiza uralensis Fisch．)等)。这表明，不同植物种的水分利用状况对环境梯度变化的响应不同，不同植物种具有不同的适应环境变化的策略。在退化草地生态系统恢复的实践中，应该选择具有较强适应干旱环境的植物种作为恢复物种。

胡杨（Populus euphratica Oliv.）叶形多变化，大致归纳为杨树叶（卵圆形叶）和柳树叶（披针形叶）两大类。在内蒙古额济纳旗胡杨林自然保护区，选择成年树同时具有卵圆形叶和披针形叶的标准株，将枝条拉至同一高度，通过活体测定，比较了其光合特征、水分利用效率及对CO2加富的响应。结果表明：在目前大气CO2浓度下，当光强为1 000 μmol·m－2·s－1时，卵圆形叶（成年树主要叶片）（A）和披针形叶（成年树下部萌条叶片）(B)的净光合速率（Pn）分别为16.40 μmol CO2·m－2·s－1和9.38 μmol CO2·m－2·s－1；水分利用效率（WUE）分别为1.52 mmol CO2·mol－1 H2O和1.18 mmol CO2·mol－1 H2O；A的光饱和点和补偿点分别为1 600 μmol·m－2·s－1和79 μmol·m－2·s－1，B的相对应值则为1 500 μmol·m m－2·s－1和168 μmol·m－2·s－1。当CO2浓度加富到450 μmol·mol－1时，A的光饱和点升高了150 μmol·m－2·s－1，光补偿点降低了36 μmol·m－2·s－1；而B的光饱和点降低了272 μmol·m－2·s－1，光补偿点则升高了32 μmol·m－2·s－1。这表明，柳树叶的光合效率较低，以维持生长为主；随着树体长大，柳树叶难以维系其生长，出现杨树叶，杨树叶更能耐大气干旱，光合效率高，通过积累光合产物，使胡杨在极端逆境下得以生存并能达到较高的生长量，这就是胡杨从幼苗到成年树叶形变化的原因。随着CO2加富，两种叶片表现出截然相反的响应，柳树叶的光合时间缩短，光能利用率减小；而杨树叶的光合时间延长，光能利用率提高。如果地下水位下降，近地层空气变干燥，或随着大气CO2浓度升高，气候变暖，柳树叶可能会逐渐减少以至消失。

比较研究了不同光强下生长的（透光率分别为12.5%、36%、50%、100%）两种入侵性不同的外来种——紫茎泽兰（Eupatorium adenophorum）和兰花菊三七（Gynura sp.）的生物量分配、叶片形态和生长特性。结果表明: 1）两种植物叶片形态对光环境的反应相似。弱光下比叶面积（SLA）、平均单叶面积（MLS）和叶面积比（LAR）较大，随着光强的升高，SLA、MLS、LAR和叶根比（LARMR）降低。2）100%光强下紫茎泽兰叶生物量比（LMR）、叶重分数（LMF）和叶面积指数高于低光强下的值，也高于兰花菊三七，支持结构生物量比（SBR）则相反。强光下紫茎泽兰叶片自遮荫严重，这可能是其表现入侵性的重要原因之一；兰花菊三七分枝较多，避免了叶片自遮荫，较多的分枝利于种子形成对其入侵有利。3）随生长环境光强的升高，两种植物的净同化速率（NAR）、相对生长速率（RGR）和生长对NAR的响应系数均升高（但100%光强下兰花菊三七RGR降低），平均叶面积比（LARm）和生长对LARm的响应系数均降低，但不同光强下LARm对生长的影响始终大于NAR。4）随着光强的减弱，两种植物都增加高度以截获更多光能，但它们的生物量分配策略不同，紫茎泽兰根生物量比（RMR）降低，SBR增大，而兰花菊三七SBR降低，RMR增大。紫茎泽兰的生物量分配策略更好的反应了弱光环境中的资源变化情况。结论：紫茎泽兰对光环境的适应能力强于兰花菊三七。

2002年中国约730个气象台站观测数据,利用空间插值和Mann-Kendall时间序列趋势分析方法并结合GIS技术,分析了过去50多年中国降水量的时空变化特征。结果表明,全国平均年降水量从60年代到90年代呈明显下降趋势,但在90年代后期出现回升,其中夏季和冬季降水量已达到50年代和60年代的水平。同时,降水量变化呈现显著的区域分异特征:华北、华中、东北南部地区持续下降,长江流域以南地区明显增加,而新疆北部、东北北部和青藏高原西部60年代到70年代下降,80年代后期有所回升。中国北方有从干旱到湿润转变的迹象,但华北和东北南部地区仍然处于持续的干旱期。中国降水量的总体下降及90年代后期的回升与全球变化趋势基本一致,但区域变化格局与全球中高纬度地区降水增加、热带和亚热带地区减少的特征正好相反。]]>

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.

Weighing lysimeters, large-tree potometers, ventilated chambers, radioisotopes, stable isotopes and an array of heat balance/heat dissipation methods have been used to provide quantitative estimates of whole-tree water use. A survey of 52 studies conducted since 1970 indicated that rates of water use ranged from 10 kg day(-1) for trees in a 32-year-old plantation of Quercus petraea L. ex Liebl. in eastern France to 1,180 kg day(-1) for an overstory Euperua purpurea Bth. tree growing in the Amazonian rainforest. The studies included in this survey reported whole-tree estimates of water use for 67 species in over 35 genera. Almost 90% of the observations indicated maximum rates of daily water use between 10 and 200 kg day(-1) for trees that averaged 21 m in height. The thermal techniques that made many of these estimates possible have gained widespread acceptance, and energy-balance, heat dissipation and heat-pulse systems are now routinely used with leaf-level measurements to investigate the relative importance of stomatal and boundary layer conductances in controlling canopy transpiration, whole-tree hydraulic conductance, coordinated control of whole-plant water transport, movement of water to and from sapwood storage, and whole-plant vulnerability of water transport to xylem cavitation. Techniques for estimating whole-tree water use complement existing approaches to calculating catchment water balance and provide the forest hydrologist with another tool for managing water resources. Energy-balance, heat dissipation and heat-pulse methods can be used to compare transpiration in different parts of a watershed or between adjacent trees, or to assess the contribution of transpiration from overstory and understory trees. Such studies often require that rates of water use be extrapolated from individual trees to that of stands and plantations. The ultimate success of this extrapolation depends in part on whether data covering short time sequences can be applied to longer periods of time. We conclude that techniques for estimating whole-tree water use have provided valuable tools for conducting basic and applied research. Future studies that emphasize the use of these techniques by both tree physiologists and forest hydrologists should be encouraged.