Specific leaf area (SLA) measurement

Knowledge graph centered on Specific leaf area (SLA) measurement with 72 nodes and 171 connections. Top connected: Rocky Mountain Biological Laboratory, Gothic, Scarlet Gilia, Slender-tube Skyrocket, Pekania pennanti.

Method synopsis

Standard protocol for measuring leaf traits by scanning fresh leaves, counting trichomes using ImageJ, then drying and weighing leaves to calculate specific leaf area. Uses ImageJ software for digital image analysis.

Synthesized from method descriptions across 6 papers using this protocol.

Procedure from a recent peer-reviewed implementation

Steps below were extracted from the most recent peer-reviewed implementation of this protocol in the corpus — Predicting the contribution of single trait evolution to rescuing a plant population from demographic impacts of climate change (2025), Evolution Letters. Implementations in other papers (listed below) may differ.

1. Annual leaf collection for SLA measurement
   Collected one leaf from each vegetative plant in the field each year of study and transported on ice to nearby RMBL laboratory 8 km distant. Each leaf was scanned with a flatbed scanner and dried at 70°C for 2 hr, then weighed to obtain dry mass and calculate SLA as area/dry mass.
   Quantities: One leaf per plant per year; 982 leaves from 383 plants in 2009-2014; one leaf from each of 877 plants in 2017-2022Duration: Annual collection during growing seasonConditions: Leaves transported on ice, dried at 70°C for 2 hours
   Equipment: flatbed scanner, drying oven, analytical balance, ImageJ software

Typical Equipment

• ImageJ software
• scanner
• oven
• balance

Output Measurements

• specific leaf area
• trichome density
• leaf area
• leaf dry mass

Papers Using This Protocol (6)

Species Studied With This Protocol

Places Where Used