Canopy architecture and diurnal CO₂ uptake in male and female clones of yerba-mate cultivated in monoculture and agroforestry

Secondary sexual dimorphism (SSD) in flowering plants is expressed by sexual differences of characters that are not directly related to gamete production. The leaf C/N ratio, photosynthetic traits or clonal responses have never been studied in relation to SSD in yerba-mate. It was hypothesized that leaf and plant photosynthesis are higher in female than in male individuals because females must supply photoassimilates to compensate for the additional reproductive investments of SSD in biomass. Here, we investigated how two contrasting light environments (monoculture-MO and agroforestry-AFS) and plant genders change leaf and plant photosynthesis, plant architecture, leaf and branch biomass production and C and N investments of two male and two female clones. To model the 3D yerba-mate structure, virtual trees were constructed using measurements of plant morphology using VPlant modelling software. The light-response curves of leaf CO2 assimilation were used to model instantaneous leaf and daily plant photosynthesis. Photosynthetic traits derived from light-response curves did not differ between MO and AFS. Some architectural traits were segregated sexually only in MO, while some physiological ones only in AFS. Leaf photosynthesis was higher in females than in males in AFS over a large part of the diurnal cycle, but SSD was not expressed in carbon gains at plant or daily scales. Leaf C/N ratio was higher in MO than in AFS, indicating MO as an ecosystem with higher degree of environmental degradation. Female clones had leaves with lower C/N ratio than males in both systems, relating to higher leaf photosynthesis on an area basis in females. SSD expressed in leaf photosynthesis over a large part of the diurnal cycle in AFS was not observed in carbon gains at plant or daily scales, indicating that the integration of physiology and architecture equalized the gender specificities. The insensitivity of photosynthetic traits derived from light-response curves indicated acclimation of yerba-mate leaves to a wide range of incoming light.