Leaf habit, phenology, and longevity of 11 forest understory plant species in Algonquin State

Abstract: Many functional attributes of plant species are predicated on their leaf habit. To fully understand the way that plant species coexist and respond to future conditions, it is important to have a thorough understanding of the leaf habit, phenology, and longevity of common forest plant species. I quantified these traits in 11 forest understory species in the Al-gonquin State Forest of northwestern Connecticut, USA, by labeling and monitoring individual leaves of three replicates of each species over a period of 3 years. While clear patterns exist within the evergreen, wintergreen, seasonalgreen, de-ciduous, and spring-ephemeral groupings, significant differences exist within and among these groups, including differen-ces in the timing of leafing and senescence, and minimum leaf longevity. Because the impact of local and global disturbance is often predicated on the phenological and life-history traits of species, these differences may be important to the responses that these species have to future disturbance. The size of leaf-supporting structures was positively correlated with leaf longevity across species, supporting a predictive connection between construction costs and leaf longevity. Addi-tionally, the leaf habit of Oxalis acetosella L. at this study site is significantly different from that observed previously in the Catskill Mountains, New York State, USA. These differences may be due to local habitat conditions or genetic predis-position. Key words: leaf habit, leaf construction cost, leaf longevity, leaf phenology. Résume ́ : On peut prédire plusieurs attributs fonctionnels des espèces végétales, en se basant sur le port foliaire. Pou