The leaf economics spectrum (LES) represents a suite of intercorrelated leaf traits
concerning construction costs per unit leaf area, nutrient concentrations, and rates of carbon …

Christian Körner has been at the forefront of research investigating treelines, and in the late
1990s and early 2000s he proposed a unifying theory to explain the global occurrence of …

Many studies have reported intraspecific variations in leaf functional traits, but their
contribution to plant performance and ecosystem function are poorly understood. We studied …

Leaf mass per area (LMA, gm− 2) is an essential trait for modeling canopy function due to its
strong association with photosynthesis, respiration and leaf nitrogen. Leaf mass per area …

Aims Topographic positions within a natural forest can considerably influence litter traits, soil
microbial characteristics, and nitrogen (N) mineralization, causing plant–soil feedbacks …

Light absorption and use efficiency (LAUE mol mol− 1, daily gross photosynthesis per daily
incident light) of each leaf depends on several factors, including the degree of light …

Forest phenology directly reacts to global climate change, potentially regulating greenhouse
gas fluxes between ecosystems and the atmosphere. To explore this phenomenon in two …

The upper distribution limit of tall tree species Abies mariesii is the timberline in central
Japan, and dwarf pine Pinus pumila dominates above the timberline to near the summit. My …

The values of many important traits of plants in a community change along environmental
gradients. Such changes may involve intraspecific variation and replacement by species that …

The absence of pines from tropical forests is a puzzling biogeographical oddity potentially
explained by traits of shade intolerance. Pinus krempfii (Lecomte), a flat-leaved pine …