“Diminishing returns” in the scaling of leaf area vs. dry mass across 94 teas in China

Abstract

ABSTRACT The scaling relationship between leaf area and dry mass is commonly employed to balance leaf acquisition and investment strategies. However, the understanding of the scaling of the leaf area and the dry mass in artificially domesticated species is limited, especially in tea. We analyzed the relationships between leaf area and dry mass in 94 tea cultivars across China. Then, we compared the scaling exponent with bamboo (50 species) and trees (252 species) growing under natural conditions. Our results revealed that the leaf area of tea scaled approximately as the 0.76-power with leaf dry mass, which is significantly lower than bamboo (0.86) and trees (1.03). Consequently, it was posited that the growth of the tea leaves may prefer to get more leaf dry mass rather than the expansion of the leaf area due to the long-term influence of artificial domestication.