“Diminishing Returns” in the Scaling between Leaf Area and Twig Size in Three Forest Communities Along an Elevation Gradient of Wuyi Mountain, China

A new study on Mount Wuyi, China, reveals that the 'diminishing returns' hypothesis—where scaling exponents for leaf area versus mass are less than one—holds true not only at the individual leaf level but also at the twig level across three distinct forest communities. Researchers analyzed 64 woody species in evergreen broad-leaved, mixed coniferous and broad-leaved, and deciduous forests along an elevation gradient, measuring lamina area, mass, petiole mass, and foliage/stem characteristics. The findings confirm that scaling exponents for both leaf and twig traits decrease with elevation, supporting the hypothesis and offering insights into biomass allocation patterns in plants.

Zhu, G., Niklas, K. J., Li, M., Sun, J., Lyu, M., Chen, X., Wang, M., Zhong, Q., & Cheng, D. (2019). “Diminishing Returns” in the Scaling between Leaf Area and Twig Size in Three Forest Communities Along an Elevation Gradient of Wuyi Mountain, China. Forests, 10(12), 1138. https://doi.org/10.3390/f10121138