Adaptation strategy of karst forests: Evidence from the community‐weighted mean of plant functional traits

Abstract

Conservative survival strategy of plants growing in harsh karst habitats is observed from the view of plant functional traits, such as morphological traits and ecological stoichiometry. However, whether the plant communities in karst forests with high species turnover adopt a conservative strategy remains undetermined. This study comprehensively investigated the characteristics of functional traits of dominant plant species in four forests (i.e. Platycarya strobilacea , Quercus fabri , Quercus variabilis , and Pinus massoniana forests) in a trough‐valley karst watershed in Northern Guizhou Province, Southwestern China to explore the adaptation strategy of karst forests at the community level. At the organ and the species levels, traits differed among species, and the leaf and the bark morphological traits and root C:N:P ecological stoichiometry presented large interspecific variations. At the community level, the P . massoniana forest presented the lowest specific root length and dry matter content and tissue density of roots, branch, twig, and bark; the Q . fabri and the Q . variabilis forests displayed low specific leaf area and high dry matter content and tissue density of roots, branch, and twig; and the Platycarya strobilacea forest exhibited high specific leaf area. The P . massoniana forest was subjected to N and P colimitation, and the three other broad‐leaved forests were limited by P supply. The community‐weighted means rather than the arithmetic means of traits were preferential to represent the trait characteristics at the community level. From the view of plant functional traits at the community level, karst forests develop multiple functional traits like low specific leaf area, high dry matter content and tissue density of leaf, roots, branch, and twig, and decrease N and P investments in leaf for a conservative survival strategy to adapt to harsh habitats.

Leaf traits divergence and correlations of woody plants among the three plant functional types on the eastern Qinghai-Tibetan Plateau, China

“…Meanwhile, the leaf with higher LDMC had smaller intercellular space and the more gas diffusion resistance from mesophyll cells, these led to lower photosynthetic carbon assimilation capacity ( Hamdani et al., 2019 ; Maccagni and Willi, 2022 ). Furthermore, according to the leaf economic theory, higher LMA indicated that NE plants adopted more conservative survival strategy, while BD plants adopted acquired survival strategy ( Maracahipes et al., 2018 ; Fyllas et al., 2020 ; Rawat et al., 2021 ; Liu et al., 2022a ). This was also confirmed in a study of woody plants from the temperate forest in the Himalayan region of India, where plants adopted conservation or acquisition strategies to adapt to environmental change ( Rawat et al., 2021 ).…”

“…However, deciduous plants adopted the opposite approach to reduce nutrient and energy loss. These two PFTs took different response measures to adapt to environmental change ( Niinemets, 2001 ; Scafaro et al., 2017 ; Togashi et al., 2018 ; Liu et al., 2022a ). In addition, BD plants paid more attention to the acquisition of environmental resources in the short growing season, and weakened the investment of leaf tissue structure in environmental adaptation ( Chen et al., 2013 ; Fyllas et al., 2020 ).…”

Plant trait-based life strategies of overlapping species vary in different succession stages of subtropical forests, Eastern China

“…Forests are the largest vegetated areas in global terrestrial ecosystems and play important roles in global biodiversity maintenance and climate change mitigation (Melillo et al, 1993;Anderson-Teixeira et al, 2015). Plant functional traits, such as morphological traits and C: N: P ecological stoichiometry of leaves, roots, stems, and twigs (especially leaves) in forests worldwide have been intensively investigated at local, regional and global scales (McGroddy et al, 2004;Chave et al, 2009;Díaz et al, 2016;He et al, 2019;Guerin et al, 2021;Liu et al, 2022). Compared to interspecific trait variations (trait differences among species) of woody plants in forests, intraspecific trait variations (trait differences among independent individuals within a species) are yet to be fully investigated.…”

The altitudinal distribution characteristics of functional traits reflect the resource allocation strategy of Abies georgei var. smithii in southeast Tibet

“…In terms of shadetolerant species, a higher wood density helps to maintain a higher survival rate under shade conditions (Ramananantoandro et al, 2016). According to the study of Liu et al (2022), several tree species in karst areas developed a conservative survival strategy with coordinated functional traits such as low SLA, high dry matter content of organs such as leaves, roots and branches, and high tissue density. Altitude, as a comprehensive reflection of most environmental factors, is the main factor affecting the variation in plant functional traits.…”