Estimates of Leaf Vein Density Are Scale Dependent. Issue 1 (20th November 2013)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Price, Charles A.; Munro, Peter R.T.; Weitz, Joshua S.
• Is Part Of: Plant physiology. Volume 164:Issue 1(2014)
• Page Start: 173
• Page End: 180
• Publication Date: 2013-11-20
• Subjects: Plant physiology -- Periodicals; Botany -- Periodicals; Periodicals; Electronic journals; 571.2
• DOI: 10.1104/pp.113.224451
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 0032-0889

Abstract

Abstract : Best practice minimizes complications arising in estimates of leaf vein density that depend strongly and systematically on the scale of inquiry and the tradeoff between field of view, magnification, lattice effects, and vein hierarchical effects . Abstract: Leaf vein density (LVD ) has garnered considerable attention of late, with numerous studies linking it to the physiology, ecology, and evolution of land plants. Despite this increased attention, little consideration has been given to the effects of measurement methods on estimation of LVD . Here, we focus on the relationship between measurement methods and estimates of LVD . We examine the dependence of LVD on magnification, field of view (FOV ), and image resolution. We first show that estimates of LVD increase with increasing image magnification and resolution. We then demonstrate that estimates of LVD are higher with higher variance at small FOV, approaching asymptotic values as the FOV increases. We demonstrate that these effects arise due to three primary factors: (1) the tradeoff between FOV and magnification; (2) geometric effects of lattices at small scales; and; (3) the hierarchical nature of leaf vein networks. Our results help to explain differences in previously published studies and highlight the importance of using consistent magnification and scale, when possible, when comparing LVD and other quantitative measures of venation structure across leaves.