New Phytol. 2015 Jan;205(1):79-96. doi: 10.1111/nph.13001.
The leaf economics spectrum is a general concept describing coordinated variation in foliage structural, chemical and physiological traits across resource gradients. Yet, within this concept,the role of within-species variation, including ecotypic and plastic variation components, has been largely neglected. This study hypothesized that there is a within-species economics spectrum within the general spectrum in the evergreen sclerophyll Quercus ilex which dominates low resource ecosystems over an exceptionally wide range. An extensive database of foliage traits covering the full species range was constructed, and improved filtering algorithms were developed. Standardized data filtering was deemed absolutely essential as additional variation sources can result in trait variation of 10–300%,blurring the broad relationships. Strong trait variation, c. two-fold for most traits to up to almost an order of magnitude, was uncovered.Although the Q. ilex spectrum is part of the general spectrum, within-species trait and climatic relationships in this species partly differed from the overall spectrum. Contrary to world-wide trends, Q. ilex does not necessarily have a low nitrogen content per mass and can increase photosynthetic capacity with increasing foliage robustness. This study argues that the within-species economics spectrum needs to be considered in regional- to biome-level analyses.
叶片经济谱是一个通用概念，描述了在资源梯度上叶片结构、化学和生理特性的协调变化。然而，在这个概念中，种内变异的作用，包括生态型和塑性变异成分，在很大程度上被忽视了。本研究假设，在常绿硬叶栎 Quercus ilex 中，存在一个种内经济谱，它在资源极度匮乏的生态系统中占据主导地位，其范围非常广泛。构建了一个涵盖整个物种范围的叶片特性的广泛数据库，并开发了改进的过滤算法。由于额外的变异源会导致 10-300%的性状变异，从而模糊了广泛的关系，因此标准化数据过滤被认为是绝对必要的。发现了强烈的性状变异，大多数性状的变异幅度约为两倍，有些性状的变异幅度几乎达到一个数量级。尽管 Q. ilex 谱是一般谱的一部分，但该物种的种内性状和气候关系与总体谱部分不同。与全球趋势相反，Q. ilex 每质量的氮含量不一定低，并且可以随着叶片韧性的增加而增加光合作用能力。本研究认为，在区域到生物群落水平的分析中需要考虑种内经济谱。
