Heat tolerance in relation to leaf construction costs
For T50 the best model included LMA and an interaction
between elevation and LMA, with an adjusted R2 of 0.30
(F2,118=26.11, P <0.001). The
significant interaction term arose from a strong positive effect of LMA
on T50 in lowland species that was not observed among
mid-elevation and pre-montane species (Fig. 6). LDMC did not have a
significant effect on T50 (p >0.1).
For TCrit, neither LMA nor LDMC were significant
predictors. LDMC had a weak, but significant effect on b, when elevation
was included in the model (F2,118=5.2,p <0.01, R2adj=0.07),
with species with greater LDMC showing steeper declines in
Fv/Fm around T50. LMA
had a moderate, but statistically significant effect on b
(F2,118=7.6, p =0.007,
R2adj=0.05).