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Figure 1. 

Literature survey of papers studying leaf-litter decomposition in association with plant functional traits in fresh leaves as predictors of litter decomposability from 2010−2022. Those papers incorporating leaf physical strength traits (orange bars on the right side) are compared with all papers (blue bars on the left side) in the field.

Figure 2. 

Illustration of common tests (inspired by Onoda et al.^[5]) conducted to determine three leaf mechanical properties, namely, the punch test, tearing test and shearing test. The specific locations on the surfaces of fully matured fresh leaves where these tests are recommended to be performed are highlighted with colors that correspond to those found in the chart. These tests yield three mechanical properties: force to punch (F_p, in units of N·m⁻¹), force to tear (F_t, N·m⁻¹), and work to shear (W_s, J·m⁻¹). Using the leaves from Eucalyptus globulus as an example, the results from each of these tests are presented. Note that for needle-like or scale-like leaves, only tearing and shearing tests are applicable.

Figure 3. 

A framework summarizing the pivotal plant functional traits pertaining to leaf-litter decomposition. These traits are categorized into three groups: leaf chemical traits, leaf morphology and structural traits, and leaf physical strength traits. Among them, leaf physical strength traits have only received limited attention based on our literature survey.