Leaf life span, dynamics and construction cost of species from Mediterranean old-fields differing in successional status.

•  Variations in leaf life span (LLS), construction cost (CC) and dynamics patterns (periods of leaf production, t , and loss, t , time lag separating the end of leaf production and the beginning of leaf loss, t) were investigated in species differing in successional status and life forms. We tested how those traits varied along the succession and how these were interrelated. A new graphical framework is proposed to assess the influence of dynamics traits on LLS.