The influence of leaf mechanical properties on local ecosystem processes has resulted in a growing interest in including leaf mechanical resistance in large-scale databases of plant functional traits.
Enrico et al. explore the relationships between two techniques widely used to measure ‘force to tear’ and ‘specific work to shear’, two properties that reflect leaf mechanical resistance. They find a positive correlation between variables and, in order to predict the value of one variable on the basis of the other, they present different equations depending on the inclusion or exclusion of the midrib, and the type of leaf or leaf venation pattern.
