Format: ORAL

Jose Eduardo Meireles1, Dawson White2, Cornelius Nichodemus1, Jeannine Cavender-Bares3

1. School of Biology and Ecology, University of Maine, USA 2. Herbarium, Harvard University, USA. 3. Department of Ecology, Evolution, and Behavior, University of Minnesota, USA

Understanding the diversity and evolution of plant function is critical at a time of rapid global change. However, traditional methods for assessing plant function, including measuring their traits and physiological strategies, are too expensive and time-consuming to be done at scale. First, we will introduce leaf spectra and how they can be used to rapidly measure plant functional traits and physiological attributes. We will cover the basics of leaf optics and techniques used to measure leaves Second, we will cover the prospects and challenges of assessing plant function using herbarium specimens instead of fresh leaves. We will talk about the challenges imposed by the background mounting paper and glue on the measurements and how to mitigate them. Finally, we will describe and exemplify how to model the evolution of leaf spectra and their underlying traits to understand evolutionary rates and convergent evolution.