Data from: Relationships between leaf mass per area and nutrient concentrations in 98 Mediterranean woody species are determined by phylogeny, habitat and leaf habit

Leaf structural and nutrient traits are key attributes of plant ecological strategies, as these traits are related to resource-use strategies and plant growth. However, leaf structure and nutrient composition can vary among different habitats, leaf habits or phylogenetic groups. In this study, we measured 13 leaf traits (one structural—leaf mass per area, LMA—and 12 nutrient traits) in 98 Mediterranean woody species growing over a wide range of environmental conditions, with the final aim of discerning the main causes of leaf trait variability. The variance decomposition results show that phylogeny, leaf habit and habitat type affected in several ways the structural and nutrient traits studied. Leaf nutrient concentrations are strongly positively correlated amongst themselves, and negatively correlated with LMA, in accordance with the “leaf economics spectrum”. We found that leaf habit and phylogeny were important causes of variation in LMA and in a broad number of leaf nutrients (i.e., C, N, Mg, S, K), while other micronutrients seemed to be more dependent on the environment (i.e., Cu and Mn). In summary, our study reinforces the existence of the leaf economics spectrum in a broad pool of Mediterranean woody species, and demonstrates the strong influence of phylogeny, leaf habit and environmental context as the main drivers of variability in some leaf structural and nutrient traits.

叶片结构与养分性状是植物生态策略的核心属性，其与资源利用策略及植物生长紧密关联。然而，叶片结构与养分组成会因生境类型、叶习性或系统发育类群的不同而产生变异。本研究针对生长于多样环境条件下的98种地中海木本植物，测定了13项叶片性状：1项结构性状——叶面积干质量（leaf mass per area, LMA）——与12项养分性状，旨在明确叶片性状变异的主要成因。方差分解结果显示，系统发育、叶习性与生境类型可通过多种途径对本研究所涉及的结构与养分性状产生影响。叶片养分浓度之间呈显著正相关，且与LMA呈显著负相关，这符合"叶片经济学谱（leaf economics spectrum）"的核心规律。研究发现，叶习性与系统发育是LMA以及多数主要叶片养分（即碳C、氮N、镁Mg、硫S、钾K）变异的重要驱动因素，而其他微量养分（如铜Cu、锰Mn）则更多受环境条件调控。综上，本研究证实了叶片经济学谱在广泛的地中海木本植物类群中普遍存在，并明确了系统发育、叶习性与环境背景是部分叶片结构与养分性状变异的核心驱动因子。