Leaves are beautifully specialized organs designed to maximize the use of light and CO2 for
photosynthesis. Engineering leaf anatomy therefore holds great potential to enhance …

Leaves are a nexus for the exchange of water, carbon, and energy between terrestrial plants
and the atmosphere. Research in recent decades has highlighted the critical importance of …

Variation in the architecture of trait networks among ecosystems has been rarely quantified,
but can provide high resolution of the contrasting adaptation of the whole phenotype. We …

One of the most notable ecological trends—described more than 2,300 years ago by
Theophrastus—is the association of small leaves with dry and cold climates, which has …

Clarifying the coordination of leaf hydraulic traits with gas exchange across closely‐related
species adapted to varying rainfall can provide insights into plant habitat distribution and …

Leaf mass per area (LMA) is a key plant trait, reflecting tradeoffs between leaf photosynthetic
function, longevity, and structural investment. Capturing spatial and temporal variability in …

Synergistic improvement in leaf photosynthetic area and rate is essential for enhancing crop
yield. However, reduction in leaf area occurs earlier than that in the photosynthetic rate …

Climate change is testing the resilience of forests worldwide pushing physiological tolerance
to climatic extremes. Plant functional traits have been shown to be adapted to climate and …

Tight coordination in the photosynthetic, gas exchange and water supply capacities of
leaves is a globally conserved trend across land plants. Strong selective constraints on leaf …

Understanding variation in leaf functional traits—including rates of photosynthesis and
respiration and concentrations of nitrogen and phosphorus—is a fundamental challenge in …