Leaf energy balance modelling as a tool to infer habitat preference in the early angiosperms
Despite more than a century of research, some key aspects of habitat preference and ecology of the earliest angiosperms remain poorly constrained. Proposed growth ecology has varied from opportunistic weedy species growing in full sun to slow-growing species limited to the shaded understorey of gymn...
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Royal Society
2015
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| Online Access: | https://eprints.nottingham.ac.uk/37161/ |
| _version_ | 1848795404832866304 |
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| author | Lee, Alexandra P. Upchurch, Garland Murchie, Erik H. Lomax, Barry H. |
| author_facet | Lee, Alexandra P. Upchurch, Garland Murchie, Erik H. Lomax, Barry H. |
| author_sort | Lee, Alexandra P. |
| building | Nottingham Research Data Repository |
| collection | Online Access |
| description | Despite more than a century of research, some key aspects of habitat preference and ecology of the earliest angiosperms remain poorly constrained. Proposed growth ecology has varied from opportunistic weedy species growing in full sun to slow-growing species limited to the shaded understorey of gymnosperm forests. Evidence suggests that the earliest angiosperms possessed low transpiration rates: gas exchange rates for extant basal angiosperms are low, as are the reconstructed gas exchange rates for the oldest known angiosperm leaf fossils. Leaves with low transpirational capacity are vulnerable to overheating in full sun, favouring the hypothesis that early angiosperms were limited to the shaded understorey. Here, modelled leaf temperatures are used to examine the thermal tolerance of some of the earliest angiosperms. Our results indicate that small leaf size could have mitigated the low transpirational cooling capacity of many early angiosperms, enabling many species to survive in full sun. We propose that during the earliest phases of the angiosperm leaf record, angiosperms may not have been limited to the understorey, and that some species were able to compete with ferns and gymnosperms in both shaded and sunny habitats, especially in the absence of competition from more rapidly growing and transpiring advanced lineages of angiosperms. |
| first_indexed | 2025-11-14T19:31:33Z |
| format | Article |
| id | nottingham-37161 |
| institution | University of Nottingham Malaysia Campus |
| institution_category | Local University |
| last_indexed | 2025-11-14T19:31:33Z |
| publishDate | 2015 |
| publisher | Royal Society |
| recordtype | eprints |
| repository_type | Digital Repository |
| spelling | nottingham-371612020-05-04T17:02:33Z https://eprints.nottingham.ac.uk/37161/ Leaf energy balance modelling as a tool to infer habitat preference in the early angiosperms Lee, Alexandra P. Upchurch, Garland Murchie, Erik H. Lomax, Barry H. Despite more than a century of research, some key aspects of habitat preference and ecology of the earliest angiosperms remain poorly constrained. Proposed growth ecology has varied from opportunistic weedy species growing in full sun to slow-growing species limited to the shaded understorey of gymnosperm forests. Evidence suggests that the earliest angiosperms possessed low transpiration rates: gas exchange rates for extant basal angiosperms are low, as are the reconstructed gas exchange rates for the oldest known angiosperm leaf fossils. Leaves with low transpirational capacity are vulnerable to overheating in full sun, favouring the hypothesis that early angiosperms were limited to the shaded understorey. Here, modelled leaf temperatures are used to examine the thermal tolerance of some of the earliest angiosperms. Our results indicate that small leaf size could have mitigated the low transpirational cooling capacity of many early angiosperms, enabling many species to survive in full sun. We propose that during the earliest phases of the angiosperm leaf record, angiosperms may not have been limited to the understorey, and that some species were able to compete with ferns and gymnosperms in both shaded and sunny habitats, especially in the absence of competition from more rapidly growing and transpiring advanced lineages of angiosperms. Royal Society 2015-02-18 Article PeerReviewed Lee, Alexandra P., Upchurch, Garland, Murchie, Erik H. and Lomax, Barry H. (2015) Leaf energy balance modelling as a tool to infer habitat preference in the early angiosperms. Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences, 282 (1803). p. 20143052. ISSN 0962-8452 basal angiosperms evolution modelling leaf size thermal tolerance ancestral ecology http://rspb.royalsocietypublishing.org/content/282/1803/20143052 10.1098/rspb.2014.3052 10.1098/rspb.2014.3052 10.1098/rspb.2014.3052 |
| spellingShingle | basal angiosperms evolution modelling leaf size thermal tolerance ancestral ecology Lee, Alexandra P. Upchurch, Garland Murchie, Erik H. Lomax, Barry H. Leaf energy balance modelling as a tool to infer habitat preference in the early angiosperms |
| title | Leaf energy balance modelling as a tool to infer habitat preference in the early angiosperms |
| title_full | Leaf energy balance modelling as a tool to infer habitat preference in the early angiosperms |
| title_fullStr | Leaf energy balance modelling as a tool to infer habitat preference in the early angiosperms |
| title_full_unstemmed | Leaf energy balance modelling as a tool to infer habitat preference in the early angiosperms |
| title_short | Leaf energy balance modelling as a tool to infer habitat preference in the early angiosperms |
| title_sort | leaf energy balance modelling as a tool to infer habitat preference in the early angiosperms |
| topic | basal angiosperms evolution modelling leaf size thermal tolerance ancestral ecology |
| url | https://eprints.nottingham.ac.uk/37161/ https://eprints.nottingham.ac.uk/37161/ https://eprints.nottingham.ac.uk/37161/ |