Does ecological marginality reflect physiological marginality in plants?

Abeli, Thomas; Ghitti, Michele; Sacchi, Roberto

doi:10.1080/11263504.2019.1578278

Cited by 7 publications

(4 citation statements)

References 65 publications

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“…Y. brevifolia displayed higher g s in the alluvial fan while H. whipplei displayed higher g s in the shallow and exposed soils of the south-eastern slope. Notably, a recent meta-analysis of 54 case studies on the variation in gas exchange, carbon isotopes and water use efficiency showed that individuals were physiologically more efficient at their ecological optimum than when growing at their ecological range edge ( Abeli et al, 2020 ). While our study did not directly measure the variation in stomatal conductance across the entire range of the Y. brevifolia and H. whipplei , our findings that species’ physiological maxima were found at the sites that best reflected their preferred habitat could suggest stomatal limitation as a potential driver of these succulent monocot population demographics in the Mojave deserts.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Leaf Venation and Morphology Help Explain Physiological Variation in Yucca brevifolia and Hesperoyucca whipplei Across Microhabitats in the Mojave Desert, CA

et al. 2021

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Different microclimates can have significant impact on the physiology of succulents that inhabit arid environments such as the Mojave Desert (California). We investigated variation in leaf physiology, morphology and anatomy of two dominant Mojave Desert monocots, Yucca brevifolia (Joshua tree) and Hesperoyucca whipplei, growing along a soil water availability gradient. Stomatal conductance (gs) and leaf thickness were recorded in the field at three different sites (north-western slope, south-eastern slope, and alluvial fan) in March of 2019. We sampled leaves from three individuals per site per species and measured in the lab relative water content at the time of gs measurements, saturated water content, cuticular conductance, leaf morphological traits (leaf area and length, leaf mass per area, % loss of thickness in the field and in dried leaves), and leaf venation. We found species varied in their gs: while Y. brevifolia showed significantly higher gs in the alluvial fan than in the slopes, H. whipplei was highest in the south-eastern slope. The differences in gs did not relate to differences in leaf water content, but rather to variation in number of veins per mm2 in H. whipplei and leaf width in Y. brevifolia. Our results indicate that H. whipplei displays a higher water conservation strategy than Y. brevifolia. We discuss these differences and trends with water availability in relation to species’ plasticity in morphology and anatomy and the ecological consequences of differences in 3-dimensional venation architecture in these two species.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Leaf Venation and Morphology Help Explain Physiological Variation in Yucca brevifolia and Hesperoyucca whipplei Across Microhabitats in the Mojave Desert, CA

et al. 2021

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“…where R Sample and R Standard are the ratios of proportional 13 C to 12 C in samples and the Pee Dee Belemnite standard, respectively. The total N content was determined using the Kjeldahl method [62].…”

Section: Parameter Determinationmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…As abiotic stress, drought threatens plant growth and development by impairing botanic functions in the secondary metabolism [ 8 , 9 , 10 ], photosynthetic physiology [ 9 , 10 ], nutrition [ 2 , 8 ], and antioxidation [ 8 ]. Plants can perceive these changes and adjust themselves in multiple ways, resulting in essential adaptations to drought [ 11 , 12 ]. For medicinal plants, the process of drought adaptation is associated with changes in not only medicinal parameters but also eco-physiological variables.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Light-Emitting Diodes Modify Medicinal Quality of Mown Rabdosia rubescens, with Changes in Growth, Physiology, and Antioxidant Activity, under Drought Stress

Gao,

Meng,

Zhao

et al. 2023

Plants

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Medicinal plants accommodated by understory habitats can easily suffer over-exploitation in the heavy harvest of natural products. It is necessary to develop a sustainable cultural protocol to provide high-quality stocks for efficient regeneration. Drought places stress on medicinal plants during their culture by limiting new sprout growth and reducing the quality of medicinal extracts. Artificial mediating approaches should be considered in a sustainable regime of medicinal plant culture to test the potential tradeoff between resistance to drought and production ability. In this study, Rabdosia rubescens seedlings were raised in three light-emitting diode (LED) spectra from red (71.7% red, 14.6% green, 13.7% blue), green (26.2% red, 17.4% green, 56.4% blue), and blue (17.8% red, 33.7% green, 48.5% blue) lights. Mown seedlings were subjected to a simulated drought event. Drought stressed the seedlings by reducing the growth, dry mass, nitrogen (N) uptake, and oridonin content. Mowing increased the oridonin content but decreased total C and N accumulation and the δ13C level. The red light benefitted starch accumulation only under the well-watered condition, and the green light induced an upregulation of δ13C but decreased antioxidant activity. Oridonin content was negatively associated with combined δ13C and catalase activity. Overall, either mowing or blue light can be recommended for the culture of R. rubescens to increase oridonin content, alleviating some of the negative consequences of drought.

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“…coincidence of geographical and ecological marginality), and of the investigated traits of population fitness ( Dixon et al 2013 ; Villellas et al 2013 ). Nonetheless, large recognitions on empirical evidence suggest that geographical marginality tends to coincide with ecological and physiological marginality in the context of the species niche ( Lee-Yaw et al 2016 ; Abeli et al 2020 ). This has relevant implications for the conservation and evolutionary role of peripheral populations under current trends of global environmental changes.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Do marginal plant populations enhance the fitness of larger core units under ongoing climate change? Empirical insights from a rare carnation

et al. 2022

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Assisted gene flow (AGF) can restore fitness in small plant populations. Due to climate change, current fitness patterns could vary in the future ecological scenario, as highly performant lineages can undergo maladaptation under the new climatic contexts. Peripheral populations have been argued to represent a potential source of species adaptation against climate change, but experimental evidence is poor. This paper considers the consequences of within- and between-population mating between a large core population and the southernmost population the rare Dianthus guliae Janka, to evaluate optimal AGF design under current and future conditions. We performed experimental self-pollinations and within- and between-population cross-pollinations to generate seed material and test its adaptive value to aridity. Seed germination, seedling growth and survival were measured under current and expected aridity. Effects of population type, pollination treatment, and stress treatment on fitness components were analysed by generalized linear models. Relative measures of inbreeding depression and heterosis were taken under different stress treatments. Self-pollination reduced fitness for all the considered traits compared to within- and between-population cross-pollination. Under current aridity regime, the core population expressed higher fitness, and a larger magnitude of inbreeding depression. This indicated the core unit is close to its fitness optimum and could allow for restoring the fitness of the small peripheral population. Contrarily, under increased aridity, the fitness of outbred core lineages decreased, suggesting the rise of maladaptation. In this scenario, AGF from the small peripheral population enhanced the fitness of the core unit, whereas AGF from the core population promoted a fitness loss in the peripheral population. Hence, the small peripheral population could improve fitness of large core units versus climate change, while the contrary could be not true. Integrating reciprocal breeding programs and fitness analyses under current and predicted ecological conditions can support optimal AGF design in a long-term perspective.

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Does ecological marginality reflect physiological marginality in plants?

Cited by 7 publications

References 65 publications

Leaf Venation and Morphology Help Explain Physiological Variation in Yucca brevifolia and Hesperoyucca whipplei Across Microhabitats in the Mojave Desert, CA

Leaf Venation and Morphology Help Explain Physiological Variation in Yucca brevifolia and Hesperoyucca whipplei Across Microhabitats in the Mojave Desert, CA

Light-Emitting Diodes Modify Medicinal Quality of Mown Rabdosia rubescens, with Changes in Growth, Physiology, and Antioxidant Activity, under Drought Stress

Do marginal plant populations enhance the fitness of larger core units under ongoing climate change? Empirical insights from a rare carnation

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