Comparative leaf growth strategies in response to low-water and low-light availability: variation in leaf physiology underlies variation in leaf mass per area in Populus tremuloides

Developmental phenotypic plasticity can allow plants to buffer the effects of abiotic and biotic environmental stressors. Therefore, it is vital to improve our understanding of how phenotypic plasticity in ecological functional traits is coordinated with variation in physiological performance in plants. To identify coordinated leaf responses to low-water (LW) versus low-light (LL) availability, we measured leaf mass per area (LMA), leaf anatomical characteristics and leaf gas exchange of juvenile Populus tremuloides Michx. trees. Spongy mesophyll tissue surface area (A(smes)/A) was correlated with intrinsic water-use efficiency (WUEi: photosynthesis, (A(area))/stomatal conductance (gs)). Under LW availability, these changes occurred at the cost of greater leaf tissue density and reduced expansive growth, as leaves were denser but were only 20% the final area of control leaves, resulting in elevated LMA and elevated WUEi. Low light resulted in reduced palisade mesophyll surface area (A(pmes)/A) while spongy mesophyll surface area was maintained (A(smes)/A), with no changes to WUEi. These leaf morphological changes may be a plastic strategy to increase laminar light capture while maintaining WUEi. With reduced density and thickness, however, leaves were 50% the area of control leaves, ultimately resulting in reduced LMA. Our results illustrate that P. tremuloides saplings partially maintain physiological function in response to water and light limitation by inducing developmental plasticity in LMA with underlying anatomical changes. We discuss additional implications of these results in the context of developmental plasticity, growth trade-offs and the ecological impacts of climate change.