Stream ecosystems rely heavily on the input of allochthonous organic matter, such as leaves, as a primary source of nutrients. Within the macroinvertebrate community, shredders are an essential component in the process of leaf litter breakdown in streams and are largely responsible for the conversion of coarse particulate organic matter (CPOM) into fine particulate organic matter (FPOM) (Rincon...

The paradigm of bacterial quorum sensing (QS), which mediates cell-density-dependent gene expression, usually has been studied in high-cell-density planktonic liquid cultures or in biofilms in which signal concentrations accumulate to sufficiently high levels to induce QS. Presumably under conditions with restricted diffusion of the signal molecule, smaller population sizes could achieve such a...

Herbaceous plants rely on a combination of turgor, ground tissues and geometry for mechanical support of leaves and stems. Unlike most angiosperms however, ferns employ a sub-dermal layer of fibers, known as a hypodermal sterome, for support of their leaves. The sterome is nearly ubiquitous in ferns, but nothing is known about its role in leaf biomechanics. The goal of this research was to char...

The effects of leaf toughness, trichome characteristics, nutrient and water availability, and secondary chemistry on diet selection by the leafcutting ant Atta cephalotes were determined using individuals of 49 woody plant species from a tropical deciduous forest in Costa Rica. The palatability of plants was measured by presenting whole leaves to leafcutting ant foragers on trails and counting ...

Seasonal ecophysiology, leaf structure and nitrogen were measured in saplings of early (Populus grandidentata Michx. and Prunus serotina J.F. Ehrh.), middle (Fraxinus americana L. and Carya tomentosa Nutt.) and late (Acer rubrum L. and Cornus florida L.) successional tree species during severe drought on adjacent open and understory sites in central Pennsylvania, USA. Area-based net photosynthe...

BACKGROUND AND AIMS Lobed leaves are considered selectively advantageous in conditions of high irradiance. However, most studies have involved woody species, with only a few considering the role of leaf lobation in herbaceous rosette species. In this study, it is hypothesized that, in addition to its adaptive value in high light, leaf lobation may add to the function of petioles as vertical spa...

Variation in the size, shape, and positioning of leaves as the major photosynthetic organs strongly impacts crop yield, and optimizing these aspects is a central aim of cereal breeding [1, 2]. Leaf growth in grasses is driven by cell proliferation and cell expansion in a basal growth zone [3]. Although several factors influencing final leaf size and shape have been identified from rice and maiz...

Kawakawa (Macropiper excelsum) is an understorey, forest tree which sustains conspicuous and substantial herbivory from the larvae of a geometrid moth, Cleora scriptaria. This study examined the relationship between leaf abscission and the amount of damage a leaf had sustained. In the field, kawakawa trees showed no increase in the rate of leaf shedding in response to experimental damage by C. ...

The adaptive significance of leaf longevity has been established in relation to restrictive nutrients that can be retranslocated within the plant. However, the effect of deficiencies in 'non-mobile' nutrients on leaf lifespan and photosynthetic carbon gain is uncertain. Calcium is frequently given as an example of an essential nutrient with low phloem mobility that may alter the leaf senescence...

Diverse leaf forms ranging from simple to compound leaves are found in plants. It is known that the final leaf size and shape vary greatly in response to developmental and environmental changes. However, changes in leaf size and shape have been quantitatively characterized only in a limited number of species. Here, we report development of LeafletAnalyzer, an automated image analysis and classi...