Functional Traits of Quercus aliena var. acuteserrata in Qinling Huangguan Forest Dynamics Plot: The Relative Importance of Plant Size and Habitat

Abstract

Variation in intraspecific functional traits is one of the important components of community variation, and has drawn the attention of researchers. Studying the variation of traits under different plant sizes and habitats helps to reveal the adaptation mechanism of plants. We explored intraspecific trait variations by focusing on the widespread species Quercus aliena var. acuteserrata in a 25 ha warm, temperate, deciduous broadleaved forest plot in the Qinling Mountains. We measured nine morphological and chemical traits for 90 individuals from different plant sizes and habitats. In addition, we evaluated the relative impact of plant size and environment on Q. aliena var. acuteserrata with multiple regression models. We found that plant size explained the most variance of traits. As plant size increased, the trees tended to have lower leaf nitrogen concentrations, lower leaf phosphorus concentrations, higher leaf carbon concentrations, higher leaf dry matter content (LDMC), and thinner leaves, indicating the transformation from rapid resource acquisition strategy to conservative resource-use strategy. Habitats could only explain the changes in chemical traits. Leaf carbon concentration was principally affected by topographical factors and was significant different among habitats. Leaf nitrogen concentration and LPC were significantly limited by soil N and P. In conclusion, shifts in size-dependent traits met the growth requirements of Q. aliena var. acutiserrata; the high tolerance traits associated with this tree species might elucidate important mechanisms for coping with changing environments.

Environmental Drivers of Landscape Fragmentation Influence Intraspecific Leaf Traits in Forest Ecosystem

“…Our study is contrary to the Qinling Huangguan Forest Dynamics Plot. In a study by Qiu et al [17], there were no significant differences in traits among six different habitats, such as high slopes and low ridges. The lack of trait variation between habitats might be common to the dominant species.…”

“…In studies on the effects of plant development and environmental factors on intraspecific trait variations, the sample size was approximately 100-200 individuals [16,17]. The sampled individuals were located at relatively consistent elevations near the mountainside summit.…”

“…Environmental factors and plant development are the two main drivers of intraspecific trait variation which may enable accurate tracking of the environmental variation [14]. Plant functional traits have been studied in terms of landscape composition and heterogeneity [15], and plant development and environment-mediated variation have been investigated from the perspective of intraspecific traits [16,17]. Based on previous studies, we aimed to combine plant development with landscape fragmentation to study intraspecific trait variations [18].…”