Imperial College London
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Professor Iain Colin Prentice

Faculty of Natural Sciences, Department of Life Sciences (Silwood Park)

Chair in Biosphere and Climate Impacts
 
 
 
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Contact

 

+44 (0)20 7594 2482c.prentice

 
 
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Location

 

2.3Centre for Population BiologySilwood Park

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Summary

 

Publications

Citation

BibTex format

@article{Wright:2017:10.1126/science.aal4760,
author = {Wright, IJ and Dong, N and Maire, V and Prentice, IC and Westoby, M and Diaz, S and Gallagher, RV and Jacobs, BF and Kooyman, R and Law, EA and Leishman, MR and Niinemets, U and Reich, PB and Sack, L and Villar, R and Wang, H and Wilf, P},
doi = {10.1126/science.aal4760},
journal = {SCIENCE},
pages = {917--921},
title = {Global climatic drivers of leaf size},
url = {http://dx.doi.org/10.1126/science.aal4760},
volume = {357},
year = {2017}
}
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RIS format (EndNote, RefMan)

TY  - JOUR
AB  - Leaf size varies by over a 100,000-fold among species worldwide. Although 19th-century plant geographers noted that the wet tropics harbor plants with exceptionally large leaves, the latitudinal gradient of leaf size has not been well quantified nor the key climatic drivers convincingly identified. Here, we characterize worldwide patterns in leaf size. Large-leaved species predominate in wet, hot, sunny environments; small-leaved species typify hot, sunny environments only in arid conditions; small leaves are also found in high latitudes and elevations. By modeling the balance of leaf energy inputs and outputs, we show that daytime and nighttime leaf-to-air temperature differences are key to geographic gradients in leaf size. This knowledge can enrich “next-generation” vegetation models in which leaf temperature and water use during photosynthesis play key roles.
AU  - Wright,IJ
AU  - Dong,N
AU  - Maire,V
AU  - Prentice,IC
AU  - Westoby,M
AU  - Diaz,S
AU  - Gallagher,RV
AU  - Jacobs,BF
AU  - Kooyman,R
AU  - Law,EA
AU  - Leishman,MR
AU  - Niinemets,U
AU  - Reich,PB
AU  - Sack,L
AU  - Villar,R
AU  - Wang,H
AU  - Wilf,P
DO  - 10.1126/science.aal4760
EP  - 921
PY  - 2017///
SN  - 0036-8075
SP  - 917
TI  - Global climatic drivers of leaf size
T2  - SCIENCE
UR  - http://dx.doi.org/10.1126/science.aal4760
UR  - http://gateway.webofknowledge.com/gateway/Gateway.cgi?GWVersion=2&SrcApp=PARTNER_APP&SrcAuth=LinksAMR&KeyUT=WOS:000408734900042&DestLinkType=FullRecord&DestApp=ALL_WOS&UsrCustomerID=1ba7043ffcc86c417c072aa74d649202
UR  - http://hdl.handle.net/10044/1/54224
VL  - 357
ER  -
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