Low predictability of energy balance traits and leaf temperature metrics in desert, montane and alpine plant communities

Leaf energy balance may influence plant performance and community composition. While biophysical theory can link leaf energy balance to many traits and environment variables, predicting leaf temperature and key driver traits with incomplete parameterizations remains challenging. Predicting thermal offsets (delta,T-leaf - T(air)difference) or thermal coupling strengths (beta,T(leaf)vs.T(air)slope) is challenging. We ask: (a) whether environmental gradients predict variation in energy balance traits (absorptance, leaf angle, stomatal distribution, maximum stomatal conductance, leaf area, leaf height); (b) whether commonly measured leaf functional traits (dry matter content, mass per area, nitrogen fraction, delta C-13, height above ground) predict energy balance traits; and (c) how traits and environmental variables predict delta and beta among species. We address these questions with diurnal measurements of 41 species co-occurring along a 1,100 m elevation gradient spanning desert to alpine biomes. We show that (a) energy balance traits are only weakly associated with environmental gradients and (b) are not well predicted by common functional traits. We also show that (c)delta and beta can be partially approximated using interactions among site environment and traits, with a much larger role for environment than traits. The heterogeneity in leaf temperature metrics and energy balance traits challenges larger-scale predictive models of plant performance under environmental change. A freePlain Language Summarycan be found within the Supporting Information of this article.