Tree differences in primary and secondary growth drive convergent scaling in leaf area to sapwood area across Europe

What is it about?

In trees, leaf area increases in proportion to the xylem functional area to maintain the functional balance between water transport and leaf transpiration. We show that, across Europe, species are rather conservative in leaf area, and they seemingly adjust their balance of leaf and xylem area by modulating the biomass allocation to axial and secondary growth.

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