Apparent Overinvestment in Leaf Venation Relaxes Leaf Morphological Constraints on Photosynthesis in Arid Habitats

Apparent Overinvestment in Leaf Venation Relaxes Leaf Morphological Constraints on Photosynthesis in Arid Habitats.

Leaf veins supply the mesophyll with water that evaporates when stomata are open to allow CO2 uptake for photosynthesis. Theoretical analyses suggest that water is optimally distributed in the mesophyll when the lateral distance between veins (dx) is equal to the distance from these veins to the epidermis (dy), expressed as dx:dy ≈ 1. Although this theory is supported by observations of many de...

Apparent photosynthesis of soybean plants as affected by changes in leaf water potential under field conditions

Evolution of a unique anatomical precision in angiosperm leaf venation lifts constraints on vascular plant ecology.

The main role of leaf venation is to supply water across the photosynthetic surface to keep stomata open and allow access to atmospheric CO2 despite evaporative demand. The optimal uniform delivery of water occurs when the distance between veins equals the depth of vein placement within the leaf away from the evaporative surface. As presented here, only angiosperms maintain this anatomical opti...

Repeated Origin of Three-Dimensional Leaf Venation Releases Constraints on the Evolution of Succulence in Plants

Succulent water storage is a prominent feature among plants adapted to arid zones, but we know little about how succulence evolves and how it is integrated into organs already tasked with multiple functions. Increased volume in succulent leaves, for example, may result in longer transport distances between veins and the cells that they supply, which in turn could negatively impact photosynthesi...

Inferring climate from angiosperm leaf venation networks.

Leaf venation networks provide an integrative linkage between plant form, function and climate niche, because leaf water transport underlies variation in plant performance. Here, we develop theory based on leaf physiology that uses community-mean vein density to predict growing season temperature and atmospheric CO2 concentration. The key assumption is that leaf water supply is matched to water...