Changes in functional traits of Piper reticulatum (Piperaceae) leaves under light and shade in La Selva, Costa Rica

Changes in functional traits of Piper reticulatum (Piperaceae) leaves under light and shade in La Selva, Costa Rica

Authors

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.22458/urj.v12i1.2799

Keywords:

leaf area, ontogeny, stomas, specific leaf mass, plasticity

Abstract

Introduction: Plants are exposed to environments with different light availability, and light is the major limiting factor in tropical rainforests. In response, leaves modify their functional traits to exploit available light and avoid hydric stress. However, how plants change their functional traits in different light conditions remains poorly understood. Objective: This study concentrates on the adaptation of Piper reticulatum (Piperaceae) leaves in different light environments. Additionally, the study investigates whether these changes occur in the leaves’ young or mature stages. Methods: Sixty leaves (one young and one mature per individual) were collected from a total of 30 P. reticulatum individuals in La Selva Biological Station, Costa Rica, 15 individuals were in the shade and 15 individuals were exposed to direct sunlight. The leaf area and specific leaf mass of each leaf was measured to record differences in biomass allocation. Additionally, the stomata and tertiary veins of each leaf were counted to determine whether there are adaptations against dehydration in environments with more light. Results: Sunlit leaves had a higher number of stomata, fewer tertiary veins, and higher specific leaf mass. Furthermore, younger leaves showed more stomata but lower specific leaf mass. Conclusions: Plants under different light conditions differed in stomata, veins and mass, and leaf age was a factor.

References

Allard, G., Nelson, C. J., & Pallardy, S. G. (1991). Shade Effects on Growth of Tall Fescue: I. Leaf Anatomy and Dry Matter Partitioning. Crop Science, 31, 163-167. DOI: 10.071/PP00157

Avalos, G., & Mulkey, S. (2004). Photosynthetic acclimation of the liana Stigmaphyllon lindenianum to light changes in a tropical dry forest canopy. Oecologia, 120, 475-484. DOI: 132.203.227.63

Castrillo, M., Vizcaíno, D., Moreno, E., & Latorraca, Z. (2005). Specific leaf mass, fresh: dry weight ratio, sugar and protein contents in species of Lamiaceae from different light environments. Revista de Biología Tropical, 53, 23-28.

de Bello, F., Lavorel, S., Díaz, S., Harrington, R., Cornelissen, J. H., Bardgett, R. D., & da Silva, P. M. (2010). Towards an assessment of multiple ecosystem processes and services via functional traits. Biodiversity and Conservation, 19 (10), 2873-2893. DOI: 10.1007/s10531-010-9850-9

Hetherington, A. M., & Woodward, F. I. (2003). The role of stomata in sensing and driving environmental change. Nature, 424 (6951), 901. DOI: 10.1038/nature01843

Holdridge, L. R. (1967). Life Zone Ecology. San Jose, Costa Rica: Tropical Science Center.

Lusk, C. H. (2002). Leaf area accumulation helps juvenile evergreen trees tolerate shade in a temperate rainforest. Oecologia, 132, 188-196. DOI: 10.1007/s00442-002-0974-9

Markesteijn, L. Poorter, L., & Bongers, F. (2007). Light-Dependent leaf trait variation in 43 tropical dry forest tree species. Americal Journal of Botany, 94(4), 515-525. DOI: 10.3732/ajb.94.4.515

Pérez-Harguindeguy, N., Díaz, S., Garnier, E., Lavorel, S., Poorter, H., & Jaureguiberry, P. (2013). New handbook for standardised measurement of plant functional traits worldwide. Australian Journal of Botany, 61, 167-234. DOI: 10.1071/BT12225

R Core Team. (2018). R: A language and environment for statistical computing. R Foundation for Statistical Computing, Vienna, Austria. Recuperado de https://www.R-project.org/.

Sack, L., & Scoffoni, C. (2013). Leaf venation: structure, function, development, evolution, ecology and applications in the past, present and future. New Phytologist, 198(4), 983-1000. DOI: 10.1111/nph.12253

Shirke, P. A. (2001). Leaf photosynthesis, dark respiration and fluorescence as influenced by leaf age in an evergreen tree, Prosopis juliflora. Photosynthetica, 39(2), 305-311. DOI: 10.1023/A:1013761410734

Tafolla-Arellano, J. C., González-León, A., Tiznado-Hernández, M. E., Zacarías García, L., & Báez-Sañudo, R. (2013). Composición, fisiología y biosíntesis de la cutícula en plantas. Revista Fitotecnia Mexicana, 36(1), 3-12. Recuperado de http://www.scielo.org.mx/scielo.php?script=sci_arttext&pid=S0187-73802013000100001&lng=es&tlng=en.

Terashima, I., Hanba, Y. T., Tazoe, Y., Vyas, P., & Yano, S. (2005). Irradiance and phenotype: comparative eco-development of sun and shade leaves in relation to photosynthetic CO2 diffusion. Journal of Experimental Botany, 57(2), 343-354. DOI: 10.1093/jxb/erj014

Villegas, S. A., & Chavarría, M. (2016). Leaf morphology and chlorophyll in Piper reticulatum (Piperaceae) under conditions of light and shadow at La Selva Biological Station, Costa Rica. UNED Research Journal, 8(2), 255-258. DOI: 10.22458/urj.v8i2.1569

Published

2020-04-24

How to Cite

Rodríguez García, D. ., Delgado Montes, C. ., López Serrano, Y. ., & Brooks Laverdeza, R. . (2020). Changes in functional traits of Piper reticulatum (Piperaceae) leaves under light and shade in La Selva, Costa Rica. UNED Research Journal, 12(1), e2799. https://doi.org/10.22458/urj.v12i1.2799

Issue

Section

Articles
Loading...