Leaf reflectance spectra capture the evolutionary history of seed plants

Authors

Jose Eduardo Meireles, University of Maine, Orono, & University of Minnesota, Saint PaulFollow
Jeannine Cavender-Bares, University of Minnesota, Saint PaulFollow
Philip A. Townsend, University of Wisconsin–MadisonFollow
Susan Ustin, University of California, DavisFollow
John A. Gamon, University of Alberta, Edmonton & University of Nebraska–LincolnFollow
Anna K. Schweiger, University of Minnesotal & Université de MontréalFollow
Michael E. Schaepman, University of ZurichFollow
Gregory P. Asner, Arizona State University, TempeFollow
Roberta E. Martin, Arizona State University, TempeFollow
Aditya Singh, University of Florida, GainesvilleFollow
Franziska Schrodt, University of Nottingham, NottinghamFollow
Adam Chlus, University of Wisconsin–MadisonFollow
Brian C. O’Meara, University of Tennessee, KnoxvilleFollow

ORCID IDs

José Eduardo Meireles https://orcid.org/0000-0002-2267-6074

Jeannine Cavender-Bares https://orcid.org/0000-0003-3375-9630

Philip A. Townsend https://orcid.org/0000-0001-7003-8774

Susan Ustin https://orcid.org/0000-0001-8551-0461

John A. Gamon https://orcid.org/0000-0002-8269-7723

Anna K. Schweiger https://orcid.org/0000-0002-5567-4200

Michael E. Schaepman https://orcid.org/0000-0002-9627-9565

Gregory P. Asner https://orcid.org/0000-0001-7893-6421

Roberta E. Martin https://orcid.org/0000-0003-3509-8530

Aditya Singh https://orcid.org/0000-0001-5559-9151

Franziska Schrodt https://orcid.org/0000-0001-9053-8872

Adam Chlus https://orcid.org/0000-0001-6719-9956

Brian C. O’Meara https://orcid.org/0000-0002-0337-5997

Document Type

Article

Date of this Version

2020

Citation

New Phytologist (2020) 228: 485–493

doi: 10.1111/nph.16771

Comments

(c) 2020 The Authors

This is an open access article under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs License,

Abstract

• Leaf reflection 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 aglobal dataset of over 16 000 leaf-level spectra (400–2400 nm) 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.