Abstract
Leaf hairs may assist in maintaining high leaf water use efficiency in tropical secondary forest tree species. We compared leaf temperature, transpiration, photosynthesis and water use efficiency between hairy and depilated leaves in Mallotus macrostachyus (Euphorbiaceae), to determine the role of leaf hair in leaf water use efficiency (WUE) in tropical degraded secondary forest in Malaysia. Measurements were made on five mature individuals growing in sun-exposed conditions and five in shaded conditions. The hair dry weight per unit leaf area was significantly greater in sun leaves than in shade leaves. The transpiration rate (Trmax) of depilated leaves in sun-exposed conditions was slightly higher than in hairy leaves in both morning and afternoon measurements. In contrast, Trmax in the shade leaves was almost identical in hairy and depilated leaves. Leaf stomatal conductance (g s) in the morning showed almost the same value among leaf types and light conditions. In the afternoon, g s slightly decreased from the morning values in both sun and shade conditions. In the morning, the leaf water use efficiency (A max/Trmax) in both conditions did not differ significantly between hairy and depilated leaves. However, in the afternoon, WUE in the depilated leaves was significantly lower than in hairy leaves in sun-exposed conditions. These observations suggest that leaf hairs in M. macrostachyus contribute to the high leaf water use efficiency in drought conditions, such as high vapor pressure deficit experienced at midday in degraded tropical secondary forests.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Airy Shaw HK (1975) The Euphorbiaceae of Borneo. In: Kew Bulletin Additional Series 4, Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew
Aronne G, Micco VD (2001) Seasonal dimorphism in the Mediterranean Cistus incanus L. subsp. incanus. Ann Bot 87:789–794
Bongers F, Popma J (1990) Leaf characteristics of the tropical rain forest flora of Los Tuxtlas, Mexico. Bot Gaz 151:354–365
Coley PD (1983) Herbivory and defensive characteristics of tree species in a lowland tropical forest. Ecol Monogr 53:209–233
Davies SJ (1998) Photosynthesis of nine pioneer Macaranga species from Borneo in relation to life history. Ecology 79:2292–2308
Ehleringer J, Björkman O (1978) Pubescence and leaf spectral characteristics in a desert shrub, Erica farinose. Oecologia 36:137–148
Ehleringer J, Mooney HA (1978) Leaf hairs: effects on physiological activity and adaptive value to a desert shrub. Oecologia 37:183–200
Ehleringer J, Björkman O, Mooney HA (1976) Leaf pubescence: effects on absorptance and photosynthesis in desert shrub. Science 192:376–377
Esau K (1953) Plant anatomy. John Wiley, New York
Eschenbach C, Glauner R, Kleine M, Kappen L (1998) Photosynthesis rates of selected tree species in lowland dipterocarp rainforest of Sabah, Malaysia. Trees 12:356–365
Gausman HW, Cardenas R (1969) Effect of leaf pubescence of Gynura aurantiaca on light reflectance. Bot Gaz 130:158–162
Gregoriou K, Pontikis K, Vemmos S (2007) Effects of reduced irradiance on leaf morphology, photosynthetic capacity, and fruit yield in olive (Olea europaea L.). Photosynthetica 45:172–181
Gutschick VP (1999) Biotic and abiotic consequences of differences in leaf structure. New Phytol 143:3–18
Hölscher D, Leuschner C, Bohman K, Juhrbandt J, Tjitrosemito S (2004) Photosynthetic characteristics in relation to leaf traits in eight co-existing pioneer tree species in Central Sulawesi, Indonesia. J Trop Ecol 20:157–164
Ishida A, Nakano T, Matsumoto Y, Sakoda M, Ang LH (1999) Diurnal changes in leaf gas exchange and chlorophyll fluorescence in tropical tree species with contrasting light requirements. Ecol Res 14:77–88
Johnsn HB (1975) Plant pubescence: an ecological perspective. Bot Rev 41:233–258
Karabourniotis G, Papadopoulos K, Papamarkou M, Manetas Y (1992) Ultraviolet-B radiation absorbing capacity of leaf hairs. Physiol Plant 86:414–418
Kenzo T, Ichie T, Yoneda R, Watanabe Y, Ninomiya I, Koike T (2006) Changes in photosynthesis and leaf characteristics with height from seedlings to mature canopy trees in five dipterocarp species in a tropical rain forest. Tree Physiol 26:865–873
Kenzo T, Ichie T, Ozawa T, Kashimura S, Hattori D, Irino K, Kendawang JJ, Sakurai K, Ninomiya I (2007a) Leaf physiological and morphological responses of seven dipterocarp seedlings to degraded forest environments in Sarawak, Malaysia: a case study of forest rehabilitation practice. Tropics 17:1–16
Kenzo T, Ichie T, Watanabe Y, Hiromi H (2007b) Ecological distribution of homobaric and heterobaric leaves in tree species of Malaysian lowland tropical rainforest. Am J Bot 94:764–775
Kenzo T, Yoneda R, Matsumoto Y, Azani MA, Majid MN (2008a) Leaf photosynthetic and growth responses on four tropical tree species to different light conditions in degraded tropical secondary forest, Peninsula Malaysia. JARQ (in press)
Kenzo T, Yoneda R, Azani MA, Majid MN (2008b) Direct observation of stomatal movement and transpiration traits among some tropical tree species by using handy digital microscope. In: Kanto For Res, Kanto Branch of the Japanese Forest Society, Tsukuba (in press)
Kramer PJ (1983) Water relations of plants. Academic Press, New York
Larcher W (2003) Physiological plant ecology, 4th edn. Springer, Berlin Heidelberg
Letourneau DK, Arias FG, Jebb M (1993) Coping with enemy-filled space: herbivores on Endospermum in Papua New Guinea. Biotropica 25:95–99
Levin DA (1973) The role of trichomes in plant defense. Q Rev Biol 48:3–15
Maruyama Y, Toma T, Ishida A, Matsumoto Y, Morikawa Y, Ang LH, Yap SK, Iwasa M (1997) Leaf water relations of some dipterocarps. J Trop For Sci 9:434–438
Parkhurst DF (1976) Effects of Verbascum thapsus leaf hairs on heat and mass transfer: a reassessment. New Phytol 76:453–457
Pérez-Estrada LB, Cano-Santana Z, Oyama K (2000) Variation in leaf trichomes of Wigandia urens: environmental factors and physiological consequences. Tree Physiol 20:629–632
Richards PW (1952) The tropical rain forest: an ecological study. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge
Ripley BS, Pammenter NW, Smith VR (1999) Function of leaf hairs revisited: the hair layer on leaves Arctotheca populifolia reduces phototinhibition, but leads to higher leaf temperatures caused by lower transpiration rates. J Plant Physiol 155:78–85
Roth I (1984) Stratification of tropical forests as seen in leaf structure. Dr W Junk Publishers, Hague
Roy BA, Stanton ML, Eppley SM (1999) Effects of environmental stress on leaf hair density and consequences for selection. J Evol Biol 12:1089–1103
Sayre JD (1920) The relation of hairy leaf coverings to the resistance of leaves to transpiration. Ohio J Sci 20:55–86
Schoener TW (1987) Leaf pubescence in buttonwood: community variation in a putative defense against defoliation. Proc Natl Acad Sci USA 84:7992–7995
Schreuder MD, Brewer CA, Heine C (2001) Modelled influences of non-exchanging trichomes on leaf boundary layers and gas exchange. J Theor Biol 210:23–32
Schuepp PH (1999) Leaf boundary layer. New Phytol 125:477–507
Slik JWF, Priyono Van Welzen PC (2000) Key to the Macaranga and Mallotus species (Euphorbiaceae) of east Kalimantan, Indonesia. Gard Bull Singapore 52:11–87
Smith JL, Hare JD (2004) Spectral properties, gas exchange, and water potential of leaves of glandular and non-glandular trichome types in Datura wrightii (Solanaceae). Funct Plant Biol 31:267–273
Smith WK, Nobel PS (1977) Influences of seasonal changes in leaf morphology on water-use efficiency for three desert broadleaf shrubs. Ecology 58:1033–1043
Sobrado MA, Medina E (1980) General morphology, anatomical structure, and nutrient content of sclerophyllous leaves of the ‘Bana’ vegetation of Amazonas. Oecologia 45:341–345
Tan GCH, Ong BL, Turner IM (1994) The photosynthetic performance of six early successional tropical tree species. Photosynthetica 30:201–206
Turner IM (2001) The ecology of trees in the tropical rain forest. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge
Whitmore TC (1998) An introduction to tropical rain forests, 2nd edn. Oxford University Press, Oxford
Woodman RL, Fernandes GW (1991) Differential mechanical defense: herbivory, evapotranspiration, and leaf-hairs. Oikos 60:11–19
Wuenscher JE (1970) The effect of leaf hairs of Verbascum thapsus on leaf energy exchange. New Phytol 69:65–73
Yabuki K (2004) Photosynthetic rate and dynamic environment. Kluwer, Dordrecht
Acknowledgments
The authors thank to the Universiti Putra Malaysia (UPM) and to M. Sano, Y. Kinoto and A. Oda for their kind support of this study. Two anonymous reviewers gave valuable comments on this paper. This study also supported in part by Grant-in-Aid for Scientific Research (No. 18780126) from the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology, Japan.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
About this article
Cite this article
Kenzo, T., Yoneda, R., Azani, M.A. et al. Changes in leaf water use after removal of leaf lower surface hairs on Mallotus macrostachyus (Euphorbiaceae) in a tropical secondary forest in Malaysia. J For Res 13, 137–142 (2008). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10310-008-0062-z
Received:
Accepted:
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10310-008-0062-z