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JXB Advance Access published online on November 22, 2005
Journal of Experimental Botany, doi:10.1093/jxb/erj002
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© The Author [2005]. Published by Oxford University Press [on behalf of the Society for Experimental Biology]. All rights reserved. For Permissions, please e-mail: journals.permissions@oxfordjournals.org
Received April 29, 2005
Accepted September 6, 2005

PHENOTYPIC PLASTICITY AND THE CHANGING ENVIRONMENT SPECIAL ISSUE ARTICLE

Construction costs, chemical composition and payback time of high- and low-irradiance leaves

Hendrik Poorter 1 *, Steeve Pepin 2, Toon Rijkers 3, Yvonne de Jong 4, John R. Evans 5, and Christian Körner 6

1 Plant Ecophysiology, Utrecht University, PO Box 800.84, 3508 TB Utrecht, The Netherlands; Institute of Botany, Schönbeinstrasse 6, 4056 Basel, Switzerland; Environmental Biology, Research School of Biological Sciences, Australian National University, GPO Box 475, Canberra, ACT 2601, Australia
2 Institute of Botany, Schönbeinstrasse 6, 4056 Basel, Switzerland; Département des Sols et de Génie Agroalimentaire, Université Laval, Québec G1K 7P4, Canada
3 Centre for Ecosystem Studies, Forest Ecology and Forest Management, Wageningen University, PO Box 47, 6700 AA Wageningen, The Netherlands
4 Plant Ecophysiology, Utrecht University, PO Box 800.84, 3508 TB Utrecht, The Netherlands
5 Environmental Biology, Research School of Biological Sciences, Australian National University, GPO Box 475, Canberra, ACT 2601, Australia
6 Institute of Botany, Schönbeinstrasse 6, 4056 Basel, Switzerland

* To whom correspondence should be addressed.
Hendrik Poorter, E-mail: H.Poorter{at}bio.uu.nl


  Abstract

The effect of irradiance on leaf construction costs, chemical composition, and on the payback time of leaves was investigated. To enable more generalized conclusions, three different systems were studied: top and the most-shaded leaves of 10 adult tree species in a European mixed forest, top leaves of sub-dominant trees of two evergreen species growing in small gaps or below the canopy in an Amazonian rainforest, and plants of six herbaceous and four woody species grown hydroponically at low or high irradiance in growth cabinets. Daily photon irradiance varied 3-6-fold between low- and high-light leaves. Specific leaf area (SLA) was 30-130% higher at low light. Construction costs, on the other hand, were 1-5% lower for low-irradiance leaves, mainly because low-irradiance leaves had lower concentrations of soluble phenolics. Photosynthetic capacity and respiration, expressed per unit leaf mass, were hardly different for the low- and high-light leaves. Estimates of payback times of the high-irradiance leaves ranged from 2-4 d in the growth cabinets, to 15-20 d for the adult tree species in the European forest. Low-irradiance leaves had payback times that were 2-3 times larger, ranging from 4 d in the growth cabinets to 20-80 d at the most shaded part of the canopy of the mixed forest. In all cases, estimated payback times were less than half the life span of the leaves, suggesting that even at time-integrated irradiances lower than 5% of the total seasonal value, investment in leaves is still fruitful from a carbon-economy point of view. A sensitivity analysis showed that increased SLA of low-irradiance leaves was the main factor constraining payback times. Acclimation in the other five factors determining payback time, namely construction costs, photosynthetic capacity per unit leaf mass, respiration per unit leaf mass, apparent quantum yield, and curvature of the photosynthetic light-response-curve, were unimportant when the observed variation in each factor was examined.

Keywords: Chemical composition; construction costs; payback time; photosynthesis; respiration; shade leaf; soluble phenolics; specific leaf area; sun leaf.
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