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Variation in longevity and traits of leaves among co-occurring understorey plants in a tropical montane forest

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  01 March 2008

Satomi Shiodera ,
Joeni S. Rahajoe  and
Takashi Kohyama
Satomi Shiodera*
Affiliation:
Faculty of Environmental Earth Science, Hokkaido University, Sapporo 060-0810, Japan
Joeni S. Rahajoe
Affiliation:
Research Center for Biology, The Indonesian Institute of Sciences, Jalan Juanda 22, Bogor 16122, Indonesia
Takashi Kohyama
Affiliation:
Faculty of Environmental Earth Science, Hokkaido University, Sapporo 060-0810, Japan
*
1Corresponding author. Email: shiodera@ees.hokudai.ac.jp
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Abstract:

The relationship between leaf longevity and other leaf traits was compared among different life-form categories (trees, herbs, climbers and epiphytes) of 101 plant species in a tropical montane forest on Mt. Halimun, West Java, Indonesia. We applied the Cox proportional hazards regression to estimate the leaf longevity of each species from 30 mo of census data. We examined whether estimated longevity was explained by either species life-form categories, taxonomic groupings (eudicots, monocots, magnoliids and chloranthales, and ferns) or such leaf traits as leaf area, leaf mass per area (LMA), mass-based leaf nitrogen, penetrometer reading, condensed-tannin-free total phenolics and condensed tannin. There was a wide-ranged interspecific variation in leaf longevity, mostly 10–50 mo, similarly across life-form categories. LMA showed a strong positive influence on leaf longevity. We found that relationships between leaf longevity and some leaf traits were different among various life forms. Trees tended to have high LMA, while climbers tended to have low LMA at the same leaf longevity. We hypothesize that such difference among life forms reflects shoot architecture characteristics. Multi-shoot trees with branching architecture need to have self-supporting leaves, whereas semi-epiphytic climbers can maintain relatively low biomass investment to leaves hanging or relying upon the mechanical support from host plants.

Keywords

Cox proportional hazards regressionIndonesiaJavaleaf life spanlife form
Type
Research Article
Information
Journal of Tropical Ecology , Volume 24 , Issue 2 , March 2008 , pp. 121 - 133
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2008

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