{
  "abstract": "Leaves influence global climate and water resources by regulating the flows of CO₂, energy and water between the atmosphere and land. Here we developed a theoretical framework that predicts the optimal annual fraction of biomass production allocated to the production of new leaves (ηf) as the product of the optimal leaf area index (LAI) and the optimal ratio of leaf mass-per-area to the leaf life cycle (LMA/LC), divided by annual total biomass production (BP). All quantities depend on local environmental variables, with different solutions (embedding a climatic aridity effect on optimal LMA/LC) for evergreen and deciduous plants. Using a global compilation of ηf data, we show that this theory predicts the emergent responses of ηf to growing-season temperature and aridity. These responses arise from the trade-offs among the environmental sensitivities of LMA/LC, LAI and BP. It is predicted that the rising CO₂ is steadily reducing the fraction of biomass production allocated to leaves.",
  "abstract_shown": true,
  "affiliations": [
    "Georgina Mace Centre for the Living Planet, Department of Life Sciences, Imperial College London, Ascot, UK.",
    "Department of Earth System Science, Ministry of Education Key Laboratory for Earth System Modelling, Institute for Global Change Studies, Tsinghua University, Beijing, China."
  ],
  "article_type": "research article",
  "arxiv": null,
  "author_total": 2,
  "authors": [
    {
      "affs": [
        0
      ],
      "name": "Boya Zhou",
      "orcid": "0009-0005-8628-0350"
    },
    {
      "affs": [
        0,
        1
      ],
      "name": "I Colin Prentice",
      "orcid": "0000-0002-1296-6764"
    }
  ],
  "bibtex": "https://research.draconitic.com/paper/ceqsv3cftyd6r.bib",
  "cited_by": 0,
  "doi": "10.1111/gcb.71166",
  "fulltext_url": "https://europepmc.org/articles/PMC13717054",
  "id": "ceqsv3cftyd6r",
  "issns": [
    "1354-1013",
    "1365-2486"
  ],
  "landing_url": "https://europepmc.org/article/MED/42952148",
  "language": "eng",
  "licence": "CC-BY",
  "licence_label": "CC BY",
  "licence_source": "article",
  "licence_url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/",
  "metadata_licence": null,
  "native_subjects": [
    [
      "heading",
      "Research Article"
    ],
    [
      "openalex",
      "2306|Plant Water Relations and Carbon Dynamics"
    ]
  ],
  "openalex": "W7216770240",
  "pdf_url": "https://europepmc.org/articles/PMC13717054?pdf=render",
  "pmcid": "PMC13717054",
  "pmid": "42952148",
  "published": "2026-10-28",
  "publisher": null,
  "ris": "https://research.draconitic.com/paper/ceqsv3cftyd6r.ris",
  "sources": [
    {
      "first_seen": "2026-10-31T00:20:33Z",
      "native_id": "MED:42952148",
      "source": "europepmc",
      "url": "https://europepmc.org/article/MED/42952148"
    },
    {
      "first_seen": "2026-11-02T12:21:26Z",
      "native_id": "PMC13717054",
      "source": "pmc",
      "url": "https://doi.org/10.1111/gcb.71166"
    }
  ],
  "subjects": [
    {
      "field": "earth",
      "origin": "openalex:2306|Plant Water Relations and Carbon Dynamics",
      "subfield": "climate"
    }
  ],
  "title": "Optimal Biomass Allocation to Leaves Across Global Terrestrial Ecosystems.",
  "title_text": "Optimal Biomass Allocation to Leaves Across Global Terrestrial Ecosystems.",
  "type": "peer-reviewed",
  "updated_at": "2026-11-02T12:21:26Z",
  "url": "https://research.draconitic.com/paper/ceqsv3cftyd6r",
  "venue": "Global change biology",
  "versions": []
}