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<oai_dc:dc xmlns:dc="http://purl.org/dc/elements/1.1/" xmlns:oai_dc="http://www.openarchives.org/OAI/2.0/oai_dc/" xmlns:xsi="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema-instance" xsi:schemaLocation="http://www.openarchives.org/OAI/2.0/oai_dc/ http://www.openarchives.org/OAI/2.0/oai_dc.xsd">
  <dc:contributor>Jennifer L. Funk</dc:contributor>
  <dc:contributor>Duncan N. L. Menge</dc:contributor>
  <dc:contributor>Steven S. Perakis</dc:contributor>
  <dc:contributor>Amelia A. Wolf</dc:contributor>
  <dc:creator>Thomas A. Bytnerowicz</dc:creator>
  <dc:date>2023</dc:date>
  <dc:description>&lt;ol class=""&gt;&lt;li&gt;Nitrogen (N)-fixing trees are thought to break a basic rule of leaf economics: higher leaf N concentrations do not translate into higher rates of carbon assimilation. Understanding how leaf N affects photosynthesis and water use efficiency (WUE) in this ecologically important group is critical.&lt;/li&gt;&lt;li&gt;We grew six N-fixing and four non-fixing tree species for 4–5 years at four fertilization treatments in field experiments in temperate and tropical regions to assess how functional type (N fixer vs. non-fixer) and N limitation affected leaf N and how leaf N affected light-saturated photosynthesis (&lt;i&gt;A&lt;/i&gt;&lt;sub&gt;sat&lt;/sub&gt;), stomatal conductance (&lt;i&gt;g&lt;/i&gt;&lt;sub&gt;sw&lt;/sub&gt;) and WUE (WUE&lt;sub&gt;i&lt;/sub&gt;&lt;span&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/span&gt;and δ&lt;sup&gt;13&lt;/sup&gt;C).&lt;/li&gt;&lt;li&gt;&lt;i&gt;A&lt;/i&gt;&lt;sub&gt;sat&lt;/sub&gt;, WUE&lt;sub&gt;i&lt;/sub&gt;&lt;span&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/span&gt;and δ&lt;sup&gt;13&lt;/sup&gt;C, but not&lt;span&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;i&gt;g&lt;/i&gt;&lt;sub&gt;sw&lt;/sub&gt;, increased with higher leaf N. Surprisingly, N-fixing and non-fixing trees displayed similar scaling between leaf N and these physiological variables, and this finding was supported by reanalysis of a global dataset. N fixers generally had higher leaf N than non-fixers, even when non-fixers were not N-limited at the leaf level. Leaf-level N limitation did not alter the relationship of&lt;span&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;i&gt;A&lt;/i&gt;&lt;sub&gt;sat&lt;/sub&gt;,&lt;span&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;i&gt;g&lt;/i&gt;&lt;sub&gt;sw&lt;/sub&gt;, WUE&lt;sub&gt;i&lt;/sub&gt;&lt;span&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/span&gt;and δ&lt;sup&gt;13&lt;/sup&gt;C with leaf N, although it did affect the photosynthetic N use efficiency. Higher WUE was associated with higher productivity, whereas higher&lt;span&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;i&gt;A&lt;/i&gt;&lt;sub&gt;sat&lt;/sub&gt;&lt;span&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/span&gt;was not.&lt;/li&gt;&lt;li&gt;&lt;i&gt;Synthesis&lt;/i&gt;: The ecological success of N-fixing trees depends on the effect of leaf N on carbon gain and water loss. Using a field fertilization experiment and reanalysis of a global dataset, we show that high leaf-level photosynthesis and WUE in N fixers stems from their higher average leaf N, rather than a difference between N fixers and non-fixers in the scaling of photosynthesis and WUE with leaf N. By clarifying the mechanism by which N fixers achieve and benefit from high WUE, our results further the understanding of global N fixer distributions.&lt;/li&gt;&lt;/ol&gt;</dc:description>
  <dc:format>application/pdf</dc:format>
  <dc:identifier>10.1111/1365-2745.14194</dc:identifier>
  <dc:language>en</dc:language>
  <dc:publisher>Wiley</dc:publisher>
  <dc:title>Leaf nitrogen affects photosynthesis and water use efficiency similarly in nitrogen-fixing and non-fixing trees</dc:title>
  <dc:type>article</dc:type>
</oai_dc:dc>