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Seasonal variation in leaf traits between congeneric savanna and forest trees in Central Brazil: implications for forest expansion into savanna

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Abstract

The ecology of forest and savanna trees species will largely determine the structure and dynamics of the forest–savanna boundaries, but little is known about the constraints to leaf trait variation imposed by selective forces and evolutionary history during the process of savanna invasion by forest species. We compared seasonal patterns in leaf traits related to leaf structure, carbon assimilation, water, and nutrient relations in 10 congeneric species pairs, each containing one savanna species and one forest species. All individuals were growing in dystrophic oxisols in a fire-protected savanna of Central Brazil. We tested the hypothesis that forest species would be more constrained by seasonal drought and nutrient-poor soils than their savanna congeners. We also hypothesized that habitat, rather than phylogeny, would explain more of the interspecific variance in leaf traits of the studied species. We found that throughout the year forest trees had higher specific leaf area (SLA) but lower integrated water use efficiency than savanna trees. Forest and savanna species maintained similar values of predawn and midday leaf water potential along the year. Lower values were measured in the dry season. However, this was achieved by a stronger regulation of stomatal conductance and of CO2 assimilation on an area basis (A area) in forest trees, particularly toward the end of the dry season. Relative to savanna trees, forest trees maintained similar (P, K, Ca, and Mg) or slightly higher (N) leaf nutrient concentrations. For the majority of traits, more variance was explained by phylogeny, than by habitat of origin, with the exception of SLA, leaf N concentration, and A area, which were apparently subjected to different selective pressures in the savanna and forest environments. In conclusion, water shortage during extended droughts would be more limiting for forest trees than nutrient-poor soils.

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Acknowledgments

This work was funded by National Science Foundation (No. DEB-0542912, USA), Mellon Foundation (USA), CNPq (Brazil) and CAPES (Brazil).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Departamento de Biologia Aplicada, FCAV, Universidade Estadual Paulista “Júlio de Mesquita Filho”, UNESP, Jaboticabal, SP, CEP 14884-900, Brazil

    Davi Rodrigo Rossatto

  2. Department of Plant Biology, North Carolina State University, Campus Box 7612, Raleigh, NC, 27695-7612, USA

    William Arthur Hoffmann

  3. Department of Land, Air and Water Resources, University of California Davis, 3312 Plant and Environmental Sciences Bldg, Davis, CA, 95616, USA

    Lucas de Carvalho Ramos Silva

  4. Departamento de Ecologia, Instituto de Ciências Biológicas, Universidade de Brasília, Caixa Postal 04457, Brasília, DF, CEP 70904-970, Brazil

    Mundayatan Haridasan

  5. Department of Biology, Cox Science Center, University of Miami, 1301 Memorial Drive, Coral Gables, FL, 33124, USA

    Leonel S. L. Sternberg

  6. Departamento de Botânica, Instituto de Ciências Biológicas, Universidade de Brasília, Caixa postal 04457, Brasília, DF, CEP 70904-970, Brazil

    Augusto César Franco

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  1. Davi Rodrigo Rossatto
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  3. Lucas de Carvalho Ramos Silva
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  6. Augusto César Franco
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Correspondence to Davi Rodrigo Rossatto.

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Communicated by R. Matyssek.

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Rossatto, D.R., Hoffmann, W.A., de Carvalho Ramos Silva, L. et al. Seasonal variation in leaf traits between congeneric savanna and forest trees in Central Brazil: implications for forest expansion into savanna. Trees 27, 1139–1150 (2013). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00468-013-0864-2

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