Hydraulic and Photosynthetic Traits Vary with Successional Status of Woody Plants on the Loess Plateau

Abstract

Research highlights: Water transport and CO2 diffusion are two important processes that determine the CO2 assimilation efficiency in leaves. The integration of leaf economic and hydraulic traits will help to present a more comprehensive view of the succession of woody plants in arid regions. However, studies on hydraulic traits of plants from different successional stages are still rare compared to that on economic traits in arid regions. Materials and methods: We selected 31 species from shrub stage, pioneer tree stage and late successional stage on the Loess Plateau, and measured five economic traits and five hydraulic traits of these species. Results: We found species from the pioneer tree stage exhibited "fast-growing" characteristics with high maximum net photosynthesis rate (Pmax) and vein density (VD). Species from the late successional stage exhibited "slow-growing" characteristics with low Pmax and VD. Economic traits showed no significant differences among the three stages except for Pmax. Hydraulic traits, such as VD, leaf area to sapwood area ratio and vessel frequency, exhibited significant differences among different stages. Conclusions: Hydraulics may play an important role in the succession of woody plants in arid regions. Hydraulic traits and Pmax, should be combined to investigate succession of woody plants in future studies. The "fast-growing" characteristics of pioneer trees and "slow-growing" characteristics of late successional trees may induce the succession of woody plants.

Long‐term vegetation restoration increases carbon sequestration of different soil particles in a semi‐arid desert

“…mongolica) any other vegetation types in the Mu Us Desert. Similar results were investigated by the study of Yin et al (2019), they discovered that arbor forest had higher photosynthetic efficiency than shrub forest in the Loess Plateau, where the climatic conditions are similar with the Mu Us Desert. However, the difference among other vegetation types were nonsignificant in the study area.…”

A greener Loess Plateau in the future: moderate warming will expand the potential distribution areas of woody species

“…Pinus tabuliformis and Armeniaca vulgaris) in funnelling rainwater to the soil of the basal area, which resulted in shrub species being more suitable for arid and semiarid environments. In addition, the observation of leaf economic and hydraulic traits of 31 wood species from different successional statuses on the Loess Plateau showed that compared with tree species, shrub species have a wider range of photosynthetic and hydraulic capacity, highlighting the functional diversity and wider adaptability range of shrubs (Yin et al 2019).…”

Drought Shapes Photosynthetic Production Traits and Water Use Traits along with Their Relationships with Leaves of Typical Desert Shrubs in Qaidam

“…Locke and Ort [22,23] found that the reduction of water potential due to transpiration in soybean leaves under drought conditions was strongly correlated with the reduction of net photosynthetic rate through field and indoor water-controlled experiments. In another study, Yin et al [24] observed the maximum net photosynthetic rate, transpiration efficiency, and stomatal opening of woody plants on the Loess Plateau. They found that some photosynthetic traits (leaf thickness, maximum net photosynthetic rate, etc.)…”