Leaf reflectance spectra capture the evolutionary history of seed plants

Meireles, José Eduardo; Cavender-Bares, Jeannine; Townsend, Philip A.; Ustin, Susan; Gamon, John A.; Schweiger, Anna K.; Schaepman, Michael E.; Asner, Gregory P.; Martin, Roberta E.; Singh, Aditya; Schrodt, Franziska; Chlus, Adam; O'Meara, Brian C.

Abstract

Leaf reflectance spectra have been increasingly used to assess plant diversity. However, we do not yet understand how spectra vary across the tree of life or how the evolution of leaf traits affects the differentiation of spectra among species and lineages. Here we describe a framework that integrates spectra with phylogenies and apply it to a global dataset of over 16000 leaf-level spectra (400–2400nm) for 544 seed plant species. We test for phylogenetic signal in spectra, evaluate their ability to classify lineages, and characterize their evolutionary dynamics. We show that phylogenetic signal is present in leaf spectra but that the spectral regions most strongly associated with the phylogeny vary among lineages. Despite among-lineage heterogeneity, broad plant groups, orders, and families can be identified from reflectance spectra. Evolutionary models also reveal that different spectral regions evolve at different rates and under different constraint levels, mirroring the evolution of their underlying traits. Leaf spectra capture the phylogenetic history of seed plants and the evolutionary dynamics of leaf chemistry and structure. Consequently, spectra have the potential to provide breakthrough assessments of leaf evolution and plant phylogenetic diversity at global scales.

Citation

Meireles, J. E., Cavender-Bares, J., Townsend, P. A., Ustin, S., Gamon, J. A., Schweiger, A. K., …O'Meara, B. C. (2020). Leaf reflectance spectra capture the evolutionary history of seed plants. New Phytologist, 228(2), 485-493. https://doi.org/10.1111/nph.16771

• Journal Article Type: Article
• Acceptance Date: Jun 13, 2020
• Online Publication Date: Jul 24, 2020
• Publication Date: Oct 1, 2020
• Deposit Date: Oct 17, 2023
• Publicly Available Date: Nov 22, 2023
• Journal: New Phytologist
• Print ISSN: 0028-646X
• Electronic ISSN: 1469-8137
• Publisher: Wiley
• Peer Reviewed: Peer Reviewed
• Volume: 228
• Issue: 2
• Pages: 485-493
• DOI: https://doi.org/10.1111/nph.16771
• Keywords: Plant Science; Physiology
• Public URL: https://nottingham-repository.worktribe.com/output/4799343
• Publisher URL: https://nph.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/nph.16771
• Additional Information: Received: 2020-05-18; Accepted: 2020-06-13; Published: 2020-07-24