An evolutionary perspective on leaf economics: phylogenetics of leaf mass per area in vascular plants

In plant leaves, resource use follows a trade-off between rapid resource capture and conservative storage. This “worldwide leaf economics spectrum” consists of a suite of intercorrelated leaf traits, among which leaf mass per area, LMA, is one of the most fundamental as it indicates the cost of leaf construction and light-interception borne by plants. We conducted a broad-scale analysis of the evolutionary history of LMA across a large dataset of 5401 vascular plant species. The phylogenetic signal in LMA displayed low but significant conservatism, that is, leaf economics tended to be more similar among close relatives than expected by chance alone. Models of trait evolution indicated that LMA evolved under weak stabilizing selection. Moreover, results suggest that different optimal phenotypes evolved among large clades within which extremes tended to be selected against. Conservatism in LMA was strongly related to growth form, as were selection intensity and phenotypic evolutionary rates: woody plants showed higher conservatism in relation to stronger stabilizing selection and lower evolutionary rates compared to herbaceous taxa. The evolutionary history of LMA thus paints different evolutionary trajectories of vascular plant species across clades, revealing the coordination of leaf trait evolution with growth forms in response to varying selection regimes.Fil: Flores, Olivier. Centre d’Ecologie Fonctionnelle et Evolutive; Francia. Université de la Réunion; FranciaFil: Garnier, Eric. Centre d’Ecologie Fonctionnelle et Evolutive; FranciaFil: Wright, Ian J.. Macquarie University. Department of Biological Sciences; AustraliaFil: Reich, Peter B.. University of Minnesota. Department of Forest Resources and Institute on the Environment; Estados Unidos. University of Western Sydney. Hawkesbury Institute for the Environment; AustraliaFil: Pierce, Simon. University of Milan. Department of Plant Production; ItaliaFil: Diaz, Sandra Myrna. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Córdoba. Instituto Multidisciplinario de Biología Vegetal. Universidad Nacional de Córdoba. Facultad de Ciencias Exactas Físicas y Naturales. Instituto Multidisciplinario de Biología Vegetal; ArgentinaFil: Pakeman, Robin J... James Hutton Institute; Reino UnidoFil: Rusch, Graciela M.. Norwegian Institute for Nature Research; NoruegaFil: Bernard Verdier, Maud. Centre d’Ecologie Fonctionnelle et Evolutive; FranciaFil: Testi, Baptiste. Centre d’Ecologie Fonctionnelle et Evolutive; FranciaFil: Bakker, Jan P.. Community and Conservation Ecology Group; Países BajosFil: Bekker, Renee M.. Community and Conservation Ecology Group; Países BajosFil: Cerabolini, Bruno. Universita degli Studi dell’Insubria; ItaliaFil: Ceriani, Roberta. Centro Flora Autoctona; ItaliaFil: Cornu, Guillaume. Department Environment and Societies Research Unit Forests and Societies; FranciaFil: Cruz, Pablo. Institut National de la Recherche Agronomique; FranciaFil: Delcamp, Matthieu. Department Environment and Societies Research Unit Forests and Societies; FranciaFil: Dolezal, Jiri. Academy of Sciences of the Czech Republic. Institute of Botany; República ChecaFil: Eriksson, Ove. Stockholm University. Department of Botany; SueciaFil: Fayolle, Adeline. Department Environment and Societies Research Unit Forests and Societies; FranciaFil: Freitas, Helena. University of Coimbra. Centre for Functional Ecology; PortugalFil: Golodets, Carly. Faculty of Life Sciences. Department of Molecular Biology and Ecology of Plants; IsraelFil: Gourlet Fleury, Sylvie. Department Environment and Societies Research Unit Forests and Societies; FranciaFil: Hodgson, John. The University. Department of Archaeology; Reino UnidoFil: Brusa, Guido. Universitá degli Studi dell’Insubria; ItaliaFil: Kleyer, Michael. Carl von Ossietzky University of Oldenburg. Landscape Ecology Group; AlemaniaFil: Kunzmann, Dieter. Carl von Ossietzky University of Oldenburg. Landscape Ecology Group; AlemaniaFil: Lavorel, Sandra. Universite Joseph Fourier. Laboratoire d’Ecologie Alpine and Station Alpine Joseph Fourier; FranciaFil: Papanastasis, Vasilios. Aristotle University of Thessaloniki. Laboratory of Rangeland Ecology; GreciaFil: Perez Harguindeguy, Natalia. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Córdoba. Instituto Multidisciplinario de Biología Vegetal. Universidad Nacional de Córdoba. Facultad de Ciencias Exactas Físicas y Naturales. Instituto Multidisciplinario de Biología Vegetal; ArgentinaFil: Vendramini, Fernanda. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Córdoba. Instituto Multidisciplinario de Biología Vegetal. Universidad Nacional de Córdoba. Facultad de Ciencias Exactas Físicas y Naturales. Instituto Multidisciplinario de Biología Vegetal; ArgentinaFil: Weiher, Evan. University of Wisconsin Eau Claire. Department of Biology; Estados Unido