Structural and functional responses in widespread distribution of some dominant grasses along climatic elevation gradients

Fatima, Sana; Hameed, Mansoor; Ahmad, Farooq; Ahmad, Muhammad Sajid Aqeel; Khalil, Sangam; Munir, Mahwish; Ashraf, Muhammad; Ahmad, Iftikhar; Ahmad, Khawaja Shafique; Kaleem, Muhammad

doi:10.1016/j.flora.2022.152034

Cited by 14 publications

(8 citation statements)

References 69 publications

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“…Mountainous ecosystems support unique biodiversity with distinct vegetation zones along an altitudinal gradient. They exhibit considerable variation in microclimate even with a slight elevation difference, which affects the distribution and structure of plant communities (Maclean et al, 2017;Antonelli et al, 2018;Fatima et al, 2022). Distributional ranges for plant species are anticipated to move to higher elevations with rise in temperature (Alberto et al, 2013;Freeman et al, 2018;Wani and Pant, 2021).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The flexibility of plants allows them to inhabit various habitats across altitudinal gradients. Therefore, understanding the restrictions imposed by altitudinal gradients on plant distribution can be aided by studying these adaptive features and relating them to environmental factors (Fatima et al, 2022).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…At higher altitudes, lower resource availability and harsh environmental conditions encourage stress-tolerant species that establish xeric characteristics such as diminished leaf area (LA) and heavily pubescent leaf surface, more prostrate habit, water 10.3389/ffgc. 2023.1181299 conservation-related increases in lignin deposition or possibly succulence (Körner, 2012;Fatima et al, 2022).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Altitudinal gradient drives significant changes in soil physico-chemical and eco-physiological properties of Rhododendron anthopogon: a case study from Himalaya

Mangral¹,

Islam²,

Tariq³

et al. 2023

Front. For. Glob. Change

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The best natural laboratories for studying the ecological responses of plants are high-altitude areas like the Himalaya, where many gradients coexist on a relatively small spatial scale. Here, we investigate the effect of soil physico-chemical and eco-physiological properties on the broadleaf evergreen woody shrub Rhododendron anthopogon D.Don along an altitudinal gradient in the Kashmir Himalaya. We collected leaf and soil samples for eco-physiological and soil physico-chemical analysis, respectively, at five different sites along an altitudinal gradient (3,220–3,908 m). Our results demonstrate a significant difference between soil physico-chemical and eco-physiological parameters along the altitudinal gradient. A significant correlation was observed between different studied parameters and altitude. Principal component analysis of studied soil physico-chemical and eco-physiological parameters revealed that all the sites were grouped into four clusters according to altitude, suggesting a more pronounced effect of altitude. Our findings showed that soil infiltration capacity increased with altitude, which would be helpful for the growth and development of R. anthopogon. We also observed significant variations in eco-physiological parameters, demonstrating their critical involvement in adapting R. anthopogon to the harsh environment of the alpine regions of Kashmir Himalaya. Therefore, the present study adds to our understanding that R. anthopogon has sufficient soil physico-chemical and eco-physiological plasticity, which should be favorable for its survival in future climates, offering an adaptive advantage and expanding its range shortly.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Altitudinal gradient drives significant changes in soil physico-chemical and eco-physiological properties of Rhododendron anthopogon: a case study from Himalaya

Mangral¹,

Islam²,

Tariq³

et al. 2023

Front. For. Glob. Change

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“…2021). However, it was recently shown that intraspecific trait variation can determine both community composition and ecosystem functioning (Fatima et al . 2022), and variation in traits at the community level could be inferred from interspecific variation, variability of intraspecific traits, as well as their covariation (Lepš et al .…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Community Level Variation in Plant Leaf Traits along an Elevation Gradient in the Semi-Arid Mountains of Northwest China

Yang

2023

Polish Journal of Ecology

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An elevation gradient affects temperature, precipitation, soil properties, and other environmental factors important for plant growth, resulting in differential responses of plant functional traits within and between species. Here, three transect lines were established along an elevation gradient of 1500 to 2900 m that spanned four vegetation types: desert grassland, low mountain shrub zone, subalpine coniferous forest, and subalpine shrub zone in a semiarid mountain ecosystem (western part of the Helan Mountains, Northwest China). Nine functional plant traits -leaf nitrogen (LN), leaf carbon (LC), leaf thickness (LT), specific leaf area (SLA), leaf phosphorus, leaf dry matter content, and the leaf carbon/leaf nitrogen (C/N), leaf carbon/leaf phosphorus (C/P), leaf nitrogen/ leaf phosphorus (N/P) -were quantified to investigate (1) how the community-weighted means (CWM) and unweighted means (CM) vary; (2) how inter-and intraspecific functional traits vary; and (3) how the climate, topography and soil properties affect plant functional traits at the community level. We found that with rising elevation, SLA and LT increased and then decreased, while C/P and N/P showed opposite trend for both CWM and CM. Additionally, the higher LN and lower C/N were found in subalpine shrub zone. The leaf functional traits between CWM and CM showed no significant difference but a close relationship between them. Generally, all the leaf traits were explained better by interspecific variation than by intraspecific variation, except for N/P. The covariance analysis indicated that LP and LC showed negative covariance effects, whereas all other leaf traits showed positive covariance effects. The contribution to plant leaf traits from altitude was slightly higher than vapor pressure and soil organic carbon. Our major finding emphasize that plant communities in the western Helan Mountains were assembled along elevation primarily via interspecific variation.

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“…Leaves are the most responsive part to climate changes [ 17 ], thus are crucial to understand adaptive strategies and plant functioning to maximize ecological fitness [ 18 ]. The ability of leaves to survive for long periods of time involves anatomical, morphological, and physiological modifications, the majority of which come at a cost and with trade-off with other processes in plants [ 19 ]. Leaf traits are more responsive to solar light [ 20 ], and it has been reported that palisade and spongy parenchyma increased with greater light intensity [ 21 , 22 ].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Morpho-anatomical determinants of yield potential in Olea europaea L. cultivars belonging to diversified origin grown in semi-arid environments

et al. 2023

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Plant performance is mainly estimated based on plant architecture, leaf features and internal microstructural changes. Olive (Olea europaea L.) is a drought tolerant, oil yielding, and medium sized woody tree that shows specific structural and functional modifications under changing environment. This study was aimed to know the microstructural alteration involving in growth and yield responses of different Olive cultivars. Eleven cultivars were collected all over the world and were planted at Olive germplasm unit, Barani Agricultural Research Institute, Chakwal (Punjab) Pakistan, during September to November 2017. Plant material was collected to correlate morpho-anatomical traits with yield contributing characteristics. Overall, the studied morphological characters, yield and yield parameters, and root, stem and leaf anatomical features varied highly significantly in all olive cultivars. The most promising cultivar regarding yield was Erlik, in which plant height seed weight and root anatomical characteristics, i.e., epidermal thickness and phloem thickness, stem features like collenchymatous thickness, phloem thickness and metaxylem vessel diameter, and leaf traits like midrib thickness, palisade cell thickness a phloem thickness were the maximum. The second best Hamdi showed the maximum plant height, fruit length, weight and diameter and seed length and weight. It also showed maximum stem phloem thickness, midrib and lamina thicknesses, palisade cell thickness. Fruit yield in the studied olive cultivars can be more closely linked to high proportion of storage parenchyma, broader xylem vessels and phloem proportion, dermal tissue, and high proportion of collenchyma.

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Structural and functional responses in widespread distribution of some dominant grasses along climatic elevation gradients

Cited by 14 publications

References 69 publications

Altitudinal gradient drives significant changes in soil physico-chemical and eco-physiological properties of Rhododendron anthopogon: a case study from Himalaya

Altitudinal gradient drives significant changes in soil physico-chemical and eco-physiological properties of Rhododendron anthopogon: a case study from Himalaya

Community Level Variation in Plant Leaf Traits along an Elevation Gradient in the Semi-Arid Mountains of Northwest China

Morpho-anatomical determinants of yield potential in Olea europaea L. cultivars belonging to diversified origin grown in semi-arid environments

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