A cost–benefit analysis of leaf carbon economy with consideration of seasonal changes in leaf traits for sympatric deciduous and evergreen congeners: implications for their coexistence

Summary Deciduous and evergreen species, which have evolved repeatedly across different clades, can coexist in a given environment despite substantial differences in their leaf traits. It remains unclear how these two groups differ in the development of leaf traits over their lifespans or how their carbon economy – the balance between lifetime carbon gain and leaf construction cost – is determined. We determined the photosynthetic rate ( A area ), leaf mass per area (LMA), leaf mechanical strength and leaf water potentials and estimated the lifetime carbon gain and leaf construction cost of five closely related pairs of evergreen and deciduous species co‐occurring in a temperate forest. A area of evergreen species was lower during their first spring, similar in summer and higher than the autumn until the following spring than their deciduous counterparts. Leaf mechanical strength, osmotic pressures and LMA increased continuously towards winter in evergreen species while remaining largely constant in deciduous species. The ratio of lifetime carbon gain to leaf construction cost was similar between the two groups. The additional cost associated with enduring winter is paid back by a longer revenue of photosynthesis in evergreen species, allowing evergreen and deciduous leaf habits to coexist in the seasonal environment.