Leaf shrinkage with dehydration has attracted attention for over 100 years, especially as it becomes visibly extreme during drought. However, little has been known of its correlation with physiology. Computer simulations of the leaf hydraulic system showed that a reduction of hydraulic conductance of the mesophyll pathways outside the xylem would cause a strong decline of leaf hydraulic conduct...

Leaf mass per area (LMA, g m(-2)) is an essential trait for modeling canopy function due to its strong association with photosynthesis, respiration and leaf nitrogen. Leaf mass per area, which is influenced by both leaf thickness and density (LMA = thickness × density), generally increases from the bottom to the top of tree canopies, yet the mechanisms behind this universal pattern are not yet ...

UNLABELLED PREMISE OF THE STUDY Specific leaf area (SLA) is a critical component of the leaf economics spectrum, and many functional leaf traits have been empirically demonstrated to covary with SLA. However, a complete understanding of how change in leaf size influences SLA has not yet emerged. • METHODS To help develop a more complete understanding of the determinants of variability in S...

Statistical and radiative-transfer physically based studies have previously demonstrated the relationship between leaf water content and leaf-level reflectance in the near-infrared spectral region. The successful scaling up of such methods to the canopy level requires modeling the effect of canopy structure and viewing geometry on reflectance bands and optical indices used for estimation of wat...

In order to detect leaf chlorophyll level nondestructively and instantly, VIS/NIR reflection spectroscopy technique was examined. In the test, 70 leaf samples were collected for model calibration and another 50 for model verification. Each leaf sample was optically measured by USB4000, a modular spectrometer. By the observation of spectral curves, the spectral range between 650nm and 750nm was ...

The leaf venation architecture is an ideal, highly structured and efficient irrigation system in plant leaves. Leaf vein density (LVD) and vein thickness are the two major properties of this system. Leaf laminae carry out photosynthesis to harvest the maximum biological yield. It is still unknown whether the LVD and/or leaf vein thickness determines the plant hydraulic conductance (Kplant) and ...

Many systems for field-based, high-throughput phenotyping (FB-HTP) quantify and characterize the reflected radiation from the crop canopy to derive phenotypes, as well as infer plant function and health status. However, given the technology's nascent status, it remains unknown how biophysical and physiological properties of the plant canopy impact downstream interpretation and application of ca...

Elevated CO2 concentrations (eCO2) trigger various plant responses. Despite intensive studies of these responses, the underlying mechanisms remain obscure. In this work, we investigated when and how leaf physiology and anatomy are affected by eCO2 in rice plants. We analyzed the most recently fully expanded leaves that developed successively after transfer of the plant to eCO2. To discriminate ...

Shade and sun leaves of Valencia orange [Citrus sinensis (L.) Osbeck] were collected to evaluate comparative effects of their leaf chlorophyll concentration, water content, thickness, and mesophyll volume of air on visible light reflectance, specifically the 0.45-, 0.55-, and 0.65-#m wavelength (WLs). The reflectance at the 0.45-, 0.55-, and 0.65-/~m WLs of sun leaves but not shade leaves was n...

BACKGROUND Both leaf attributes and stomatal traits are linked to water economy in land plants. However, it is unclear whether these two components are associated evolutionarily. METHODOLOGY/PRINCIPAL FINDINGS In characterizing the possible effect of phylogeny on leaf attributes and stomatal traits, we hypothesized that a correlated evolution exists between the two. Using a phylogenetic compa...