William Lee

Publications (2)42.92 Total impact

• Source

  Available from: Kouki Hikosaka

  Article: Assessing the generality of global leaf trait relationships.

  Ian J Wright, Peter B Reich, Johannes H C Cornelissen, Daniel S Falster, Eric Garnier, Kouki Hikosaka, Byron B Lamont, William Lee, Jacek Oleksyn, Noriyuki Osada, Hendrik Poorter, Rafael Villar, David I Warton, Mark Westoby
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  ABSTRACT: Global-scale quantification of relationships between plant traits gives insight into the evolution of the world's vegetation, and is crucial for parameterizing vegetation-climate models. A database was compiled, comprising data for hundreds to thousands of species for the core 'leaf economics' traits leaf lifespan, leaf mass per area, photosynthetic capacity, dark respiration, and leaf nitrogen and phosphorus concentrations, as well as leaf potassium, photosynthetic N-use efficiency (PNUE), and leaf N : P ratio. While mean trait values differed between plant functional types, the range found within groups was often larger than differences among them. Future vegetation-climate models could incorporate this knowledge. The core leaf traits were intercorrelated, both globally and within plant functional types, forming a 'leaf economics spectrum'. While these relationships are very general, they are not universal, as significant heterogeneity exists between relationships fitted to individual sites. Much, but not all, heterogeneity can be explained by variation in sample size alone. PNUE can also be considered as part of this trait spectrum, whereas leaf K and N : P ratios are only loosely related.
  New Phytologist 06/2005; 166(2):485-96. · 6.64 Impact Factor
• Source

  Available from: Jeannine Cavender-Bares

  Article: The worldwide leaf economics spectrum.

  Ian J Wright, Peter B Reich, Mark Westoby, David D Ackerly, Zdravko Baruch, Frans Bongers, Jeannine Cavender-Bares, Terry Chapin, Johannes H C Cornelissen, Matthias Diemer, [......], Noriyuki Osada, Hendrik Poorter, Pieter Poot, Lynda Prior, Vladimir I Pyankov, Catherine Roumet, Sean C Thomas, Mark G Tjoelker, Erik J Veneklaas, Rafael Villar
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  ABSTRACT: 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.
  Nature 05/2004; 428(6985):821-7. · 36.28 Impact Factor