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ORIGINAL RESEARCH article

Front. Plant Sci.
Sec. Functional Plant Ecology
Volume 15 - 2024 | doi: 10.3389/fpls.2024.1450723

Leaf Functional Traits Highlight Phenotypic Variation of Two Tree Species in the Urban Environment

Provisionally accepted
Ahram Cho Ahram Cho 1*Nicole Dziedzic Nicole Dziedzic 1Aria Davis Aria Davis 1Cindy Hanson Cindy Hanson 2Jangho Lee Jangho Lee 2Gabriela Nunez Mir Gabriela Nunez Mir 1Miquel A Gonzalez-Meler Miquel A Gonzalez-Meler 1
  • 1 Department of Biological Sciences, College of Liberal Arts and Sciences, University of Illinois at Chicago, Chicago, Illinois, United States
  • 2 Department of Earth and Environmental Sciences, College of Liberal Arts and Sciences, University of Illinois at Chicago, Chicago, Illinois, United States

The final, formatted version of the article will be published soon.

    This study investigates the environmental differences and tree leaf structure and morphology in urban and suburban sites in the Chicago Metropolitan Region. The leaf functional traits of Norway Maple and Little-leaved Linden were studied in three locations in the summer of 2023: an urban park (University of Illinois Chicago, Chicago, IL), a suburban park (Morton Arboretum, Lisle, IL), and a suburban residential site (Lombard, IL). The urban site had higher daytime and nighttime air, and land surface temperatures compared to the suburban sites with significant fluctuations observed across the sites. Cumulative growing degree days, a measure of potential photosynthetically active days, were also higher in the urban park than in the suburban sites between March and August. Norway Maple trees growing in the urban site displayed higher specific leaf area (SLA) and lower leaf dry matter content (LDMC) than in the suburban sites, resulting in thinner leaves. Similarly, Little-leaved Linden trees in the suburban residential site displayed higher SLA and lower LDMC than those in the suburban park. The values of gas exchange traits-namely photosynthetic assimilation, transpiration rates, and stomatal conductance-of Norway Maple were higher at the urban site compared to suburban sites as temperatures increased during the summer. Norway Maple gas exchange values decreased as the growing season progressed, as expected by ontogeny. In contrast, Little-leaved Linden maintained similar leaf gas exchange values throughout the growing season. Both species in the urban site exhibited lower instantaneous water use efficiency and reduced LDMC, suggesting greater water loss in response to elevated temperatures compared to suburban park and residential sites. Comparisons with existing global trait databases emphasize the need for localized data to accurately capture site-specific responses. Although some traits aligned with database values, others deviated significantly, underscoring the importance of comprehensive, site-specific datasets for robust ecosystem modeling and management strategies.

    Keywords: Chicago metropolitan region, elemental analysis, gas exchange, Land surface temperature, Leaf economic spectrum, Urban heat island effect, water-usage strategy

    Received: 18 Jun 2024; Accepted: 25 Nov 2024.

    Copyright: © 2024 Cho, Dziedzic, Davis, Hanson, Lee, Mir and Gonzalez-Meler. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.

    * Correspondence: Ahram Cho, Department of Biological Sciences, College of Liberal Arts and Sciences, University of Illinois at Chicago, Chicago, IL 60607, Illinois, United States

    Disclaimer: All claims expressed in this article are solely those of the authors and do not necessarily represent those of their affiliated organizations, or those of the publisher, the editors and the reviewers. Any product that may be evaluated in this article or claim that may be made by its manufacturer is not guaranteed or endorsed by the publisher.