Landscape-level variation in spring leaf phenology is driven by precipitation seasonality in the Mexican red oak Quercus castanea.

Abstract

Water availability is one of the essential factors that determine the distribution of plant species, as well as their ecological strategies. The study of leaf phenology, in conjunction with other leaf traits of an ecological nature, such as functional traits, makes it possible to determine the life history strategies of plant species and their variation along environmental gradients, which in turn influences the demographic rates of populations. In the present study, we analysed the effect of water availability at the landscape scale on spring leaf phenology and foliar traits such as leaf mass per area (LMA) and leaf thickness (LT) in the oak species Quercus castanea from a tropical latitude in central-western Mexico. Six sites were selected in the Cuitzeo basin, Michoacán, across a water availability gradient, ranging from 766 mm to 1145 mm of mean annual precipitation. Leaf samples were collected from 10 adult trees at each site and LT and LMA were estimated. Leaf phenology was monitored for each tree every two weeks between March and July for two consecutive years, 2021 and 2022, alongside soil moisture measurements. Temperature and precipitation variables for the two study years were obtained from meteorological stations and long-term bioclimatic variables from the Worldclim database. Significant spatial and temporal variation in leaf phenology was observed. Earlier leaf development and shorter development times were observed with increased soil moisture in March and April, and with higher precipitation in October of the previous year. Also, sites with long-term higher precipitation seasonality and with lower precipitation of the warmest quarter showed longer development times. A positive association between development times and leaf thickness was also observed. Quercus castanea shows a brevideciduous leaf phenology but with significant variation among populations, reflecting spatiotemporal mosaics of environmental and genetic variation and in covariation with leaf functional traits such as leaf thickness.