Relationships among the leaf traits in temperate forest tree species in Uttarakhand, India

Abstract Background: The primary function of the leaf is the production of the food and interchange the gases between the atmosphere and the plant surface. Establishing the relationship among the leaf traits is essential to understand the ecosystem functioning in the forest ecosystem. Here, the present study proposes a framework for species-level relationships between the traits in the temperate forest ecosystem. Methodology: Three morphological (leaf area, specific leaf area and leaf dry matter content), three chemical (leaf carbon, nitrogen and phosphorous content) and six physiological (chlorophyll, photosynthetic rate, stomatal conductance, intrinsic water use efficiency, transpiration rate, intercellular CO2 concentration) leaf traits were analysed in 10 woody tree species of temperate forest using linear mixed modelling. Results: Results showed that the leaf carbon was the only trait influencing the most to leaf area, specific leaf area and leaf dry matter content and leads to maximum variation in the functioning of the forest ecosystem. Conclusion: The results suggested that consideration of plant traits, and especially the leaf traits, increases the ability to describe variation in the functioning of the forest ecosystem. This study indicated that leaf carbon act as the significant predictor of leaf trait variation among the different species in the temperate forest ecosystem of the Indian Himalayan region.