Berry, Sandra LeeRoderick, Michael2015-12-132015-12-131466-822Xhttp://hdl.handle.net/1885/93262Aim Recent research has shown that much of the variability in leaf gas exchange and leaf longevity can be related to variations in the surface : volume ratio of leaves. The aim of this paper was to develop a theoretical framework and a practical method to extend that result to the vegetation at the continental scale. The study was conducted in Australia. We propose that vegetation is composed of a mixture of three basic leaf types, 'turgor' (T), 'mesic' (M) and 'sclerophyll' (S) leaves. Changes in the relative proportions of T, M and S leaves within a vegetation type are visualized using a ternary diagram and differences in vegetation structure are shown to be easily mapped onto the ternary diagram. We estimate the proportions of T, M and S leaves using readily available data. The total amount of PAR absorbed by the vegetation (fPAR) is estimated using continental-scale satellite observations. The total fPAR is then decomposed into that absorbed by T, M and S leaves. The relative absorption of PAR by T leaves is estimated from the temporal dynamics in the satellite signal, while the relative proportions of M and S leaves are estimated using climatic (solar radiation, rainfall) data. When the availability of light, nutrients and water were near-optimal, the vegetation was composed of predominantly M leaves. In low nutrient environments S leaves predominated. T leaves were dominant in disturbed environments. The theoretical framework is used to predict that elevated atmospheric CO2 would tend to increase the proportion of M and S leaves in an ecosystem and the resulting change means that the proportion of T leaves would decrease. In terms of the TMS scheme, this implies that elevated CO2 has the same net effect on the vegetation as a decrease in disturbance.Keywords: carbon dioxide enrichment; community structure; functional group; light availability; nutrient availability; vegetation dynamics; water supply; carbon dioxide; gas exchange; leaf area index; satellite imagery; vegetation mapping; vegetation structure; veg Australia; Elevated CO2; Leaf functional types; Leaf surface volume ratio; PAR; Satellite observations; Vegetation dynamics; Vegetation structureEstimating mixtures of leaf functional types using continental-scale satellite and climatic data200210.1046/j.1466-822X.2002.00183.x2015-12-12