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Low light acclimation in five temperate broad-leaved tree species of different successional status: the significance of a shade canopy

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Abstract

•Context

Tree species differ largely in their capability to produce characteristic shade leaves with effective morphological and physiological acclimation to low light.

•Aims

By examining the sun/shade leaf differentiation in leaf morphology, foliar nitrogen and photosynthetic capacity in five temperate tree species of different successional status, we aimed at identifying those leaf traits that determine the development of a typical shade crown with low light-acclimated leaves.

•Methods

Leaf morphology, foliar N content, photosynthetic capacity (V cmax, J max and A max) and leaf dark respiration (R d) were measured in the canopies of 26 adult trees of Fraxinus, Acer, Carpinus, Tilia and Fagus species.

•Results

Six traits (the sun/shade leaf differentiation in specific leaf area, leaf size, A max per leaf area or per mass, photosynthetic N use efficiency and R d) were found to characterise best the degree of low light acclimation in shade leaves. All five species exhibited certain modifications in leaf morphology and/or physiology in response to low light; Fagus sylvatica showed the highest and Fraxinus excelsior the lowest shade leaf acclimation.

•Conclusions

Our results indicate that the five early/mid- to late-successional species have developed species-specific low light acclimation strategies in their shade crowns which differ in terms of the relative importance of leaf morphological and physiological acclimation.

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Acknowledgments

We thank all members of the Göttingen Experimental Botanical Garden (particularly Dirk Deilke and Ulrich Werder) and the student helpers for their support in operating the lifter in the forest. The authors thank the administration of Hainich National Park (especially Jens Wilhelm) for the collaboration and granting access to the forest sites, Paul Köcher for the fruitful cooperation, Professor Zucchini (University of Göttingen) for advice in the statistical analysis and Christina Langenbruch for comments on the manuscript.

Funding

This research was conducted in the framework of ‘Graduiertenkolleg 1086: The Role of Biodiversity for Biogeochemical Cycles and Biotic Interactions in Temperate Deciduous Forests’. The financial support granted by DFG is gratefully acknowledged.

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Author notes

  1. Nicole Legner

    Present address: Division of Agronomy, Department of Crop Sciences, University of Göttingen, Göttingen, Germany

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Plant Ecology and Ecosystems Research, Albrecht von Haller Institute for Plant Sciences, University of Göttingen, Untere Karspüle 2, 37073, Göttingen, Germany

    Nicole Legner, Stefan Fleck & Christoph Leuschner

  2. Intensive Environmental Monitoring, Department of Environmental Control, Nordwestdeutsche Forstliche Versuchsanstalt, Grätzelstr. 2, 37079, Göttingen, Germany

    Stefan Fleck

Authors
  1. Nicole Legner
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  2. Stefan Fleck
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  3. Christoph Leuschner
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Christoph Leuschner.

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Handling Editor: Erwin Dreyer

Contribution of the co-authors

SF developed the study design, NL conducted the research, NL with support from SF conducted the analysis, and CL, NL and SF wrote the paper.

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Legner, N., Fleck, S. & Leuschner, C. Low light acclimation in five temperate broad-leaved tree species of different successional status: the significance of a shade canopy. Annals of Forest Science 70, 557–570 (2013). https://doi.org/10.1007/s13595-013-0298-4

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s13595-013-0298-4

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