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© The Author(s) 2020
J. Cavender-Bares et al. (eds.), Remote Sensing of Plant Biodiversity,
https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-33157-3_7
Chapter 7
Linking Leaf Spectra to the Plant Tree
of Life
José Eduardo Meireles, Brian O’Meara, and Jeannine Cavender-Bares
7.1 Introduction
Evolution is the engine behind the diversity in leaf structure and chemistry that is
captured in their spectral profiles, and, therefore, leaf spectra are inexorably linked
to the tree of life. Our ability to distinguish species using spectra is a consequence
of trait differences that arise and accumulate over evolutionary time. By the same
token, the amount of variation that exists in different spectral regions is ultimately
determined by the pace of evolution, convergence, and other evolutionary dynamics
affecting the underlying leaf traits. There is an increasing interest in understanding
leaf spectra through the lens of evolution and in the context of phylogenetic history
(Cavender-Bares et  al. 2016; McManus et  al. 2016). Advances on this front will
require, however, a good understanding of how evolutionary biologists leverage the
tree of life to make inferences about evolution.
J. E. Meireles (*)
Department of Ecology, Evolution and Behavior, University of Minnesota,
Saint Paul, MN, USA
School of Biology & Ecology, University of Maine, Orono, ME, USA
B. O’Meara
Department of Ecology & Evolutionary Biology, University of Tennessee,
Knoxville, TN, USA
J. Cavender-Bares
Department of Ecology, Evolution and Behavior, University of Minnesota,
Saint Paul, MN, USA