Leaf Longevity as a Normalization Constant in Allometric Predictions of Plant Production

In metabolic scaling theory the size-dependence of plant processes is described by a power function of form Y = Y o M θ where Y is a characteristic such as plant productivity that changes with plant size ( M ) raised to the θ th power and Y o is a normalization constant that adjusts the general relationship across environments and species. In essence, the theory considers that the value of θ arises in the size-dependent relationship between leaf area and vascular architecture that influences plant function and that Y o modulates this general relationship to account for ecological and evolutionary effects on the exchange of resources between plant and environment. Enquist and colleagues have shown from first principles that Y o is a function of carbon use efficiency, the carbon fraction of a plant, the area-specific carbon assimilation rate of a leaf, the laminar area of a leaf, and the mass of a leaf. We show that leaf longevity provides a functional integration of these traits that can serve as a simpler normalization in scaling plant productivity for individual species and potentially for mixed-species communities as well.