Deciduous and evergreen oaks show contrasting adaptive responses in leaf mass per area across environments

Increases in leaf mass per area (LMA) are commonly observed response to environmental stresses and achieved through increases thickness and/or density. Here, we investigated how the two underlying components of LMA differ relation species native climates phylogeny, across deciduous evergreen species. Using a phylogenetic approach, quantified anatomical, compositional climatic variables from 40 45 Quercus Northern Hemisphere growing common garden. Deciduous shorter seasons tended have leaves with lower than those longer seasons, while opposite pattern was found for evergreens. For both habits, increased arid environments. However, this shift associated density evergreens but reduced oaks showed fundamental morphological differences that revealed diverse adaptive response. While may diversified tight coordination mainly modulated by aridity, diversification within appears be dependent on infrageneric group, aridity cold, is only aridity.