Diversity, distribution, and ecological function of heteroblasty

Some plants undergo a great change during their adolescence, which can make juveniles and adults of the same plant species have different characteristics (called heteroblasty). In many Australian eucalypts, seedlings and resprouts have round leaves while adult trees have long leaves. Heteroblasty is uncommon but diverse across the rest of the plant kingdom. My thesis aimed to further our understanding about why heteroblasty evolved in some plants but not others, by comparing it across multiple species and investigating whether it is related to certain growth forms or habitats.