A BACKGROUND ABOUT LEAF ECONOMIC SPECTRUM IN TROPICAL VEGETATION

The Leaf Economic Spectrum (LES) describes the different strategies of leaves in capturing and using resources, ranging from fast-growing species with short-lived leaves to those that adopt a more conservative approach, investing in durable and efficient leaves in the use of resources. The objective of this systematic review is to quantify and investigate studies on the Leaf Economic Spectrum (LES) in tropical vegetation, analyzing the association with functional traits, their geographic distribution, vegetation types, plant life habits and the main biotic and abiotic factors that shape these characteristics. The current study performed a systematic review of the indexed databases (Web of Science, Scopus) in the last 20 years (2004-2024). We identified 160 publications. The discovery of articles investigating leaf functional properties and the leaf economic spectrum in the tropics, the topic of our systematic review, has grown considerably over the past eight years. We identified a dominant association of studies published with the Neotropical region. The most common functional leaf attributes studied in the framework of LES (e.g. specific leaf area, leaf nitrogen concentration and photosynthetic capacity) were all found to be associated with the plant growth rate in our research. The distribution of LES research shows that LES studies of tropical vegetation cover a relatively higher amount of sampling for tropical and subtropical dry and moist broadleaf forests than others. Despite the advances, significant knowledge gaps remain, particularly regarding physiological traits and understudied plant groups such as lianas, epiphytes, and bryophytes. Future research efforts must prioritize a broader range of life forms and functional traits, integrating eco-physiological and biogeochemical approaches to better predict the responses of tropical vegetation to environmental changes and to support more effective conservation and restoration strategies.