Variation of leaf and root traits and ecological adaptive strategies along a precipitation gradient on Changtang Plateau

Guangshuai, 赵广帅 Zhao; Min, 刘珉 Liu; Peili, 石培礼 Shi; Ning, 宗宁 Zong; Xin, 张鑫 Zhang; Xianzhou, 张宪洲 Zhang

doi:10.5846/stxb201811262562

Cited by 5 publications

(3 citation statements)

References 0 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Order By: Relevance

“…Vegetative (especially leaves) and roots are essential for plants to acquire resources. Plant morphologically changes with the environmental gradient to obtain most of the resources and strategies ecologically to adapt to environmental changes [ 94 ]. Under both water and salt stress in the Qaseem region, the roots of A. lagopoides adopted a strategy of root development and expansion to obtain resources to improve their adaptive ability.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Phenotypic Plasticity Strategy of Aeluropus lagopoides Grass in Response to Heterogenous Saline Habitats

Assaeed

Dar

Al‐Doss

et al. 2023

Biology

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Understanding the response variation of morphological parameters and biomass allocation of plants in heterogeneous saline environments is helpful in evaluating the internal correlation between plant phenotypic plasticity mechanism and biomass allocation. The plasticity of plants alters the interaction among individuals and their environment and consequently affects the population dynamics and aspects of community and ecosystem functioning. The current study aimed to assess the plasticity of Aeluropus lagopoides traits with variation in saline habitats. Understanding the habitat stress tolerance strategy of A. lagopoides is of great significance since it is one of the highly palatable forage grass in the summer period. Five different saline flat regions (coastal and inland) within Saudi Arabia were targeted, and the soil, as well as the morphological and physiological traits of A. lagopoides, were assessed. Comprehensive correlation analyses were performed to correlate the traits with soil, region, or among each other. The soil analysis revealed significant variation among the five studied regions for all measured parameters, as well as among the soil layers showing the highest values in the upper layer and decreased with the depth. Significant differences were determined for all tested parameters of the morphological and reproductive traits as well as for the biomass allocation of A. lagopoides, except for the leaf thickness. In the highly saline region, Qaseem, A. lagopoides showed stunted aerial growth, high root/shoot ratio, improved root development, and high biomass allocation. In contrast, the populations growing in the low saline region (Jizan) showed the opposite trend. Under the more stressful condition, like in Qaseem and Salwa, A. lagopoides produce low spikes in biomass and seeds per plant, compared to the lowest saline habitats, such as Jouf. There was no significant difference in physiological parameters except stomatal conductance (gs), which is highest in the Jizan region. In conclusion, the population of A. lagopoides is tolerant of harsh environments through phenotypic plasticity. This could be a candidate species to rehabilitate the saline habitats, considering saline agriculture and saline soil remediation.

show abstract

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Phenotypic Plasticity Strategy of Aeluropus lagopoides Grass in Response to Heterogenous Saline Habitats

Assaeed

Dar

Al‐Doss

et al. 2023

Biology

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…In general, precipitation in northern Tibet decreased while temperature increased before the implementation of the Project (Fig. 6), causing the local environment to be drier, and the increase of evapotranspiration intensity was greater than that of precipitation, resulting in a decline in water conservation capacity (Lu et al, 2020; Zhao et al, 2020). Although the temperature in northern Tibet continued to rise slowly after the Project, an increase in rainfall offset the impact of the temperature rise (Du et al, 2008; Song et al, 2012; Yin et al, 2013; Shao et al, 2022).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The climate in north Tibet was typical plateau monsoon climate. The temperature in northern Tibet exhibits a gradient decline from south to north, annual average temperature in most places is below 0 °C, and the average temperature of the warmest month is less than 14 °C (Yang et al, 2003); the annual average precipitation is between 50mm and 700 mm, with the gradient decreasing gradient from southeast to northwest (Zhao et al, 2020). Most places in this region have annual sunshine hours more than 2500 h, the annual average wind speed is larger than 4 m s –1 , thus the annual evaporation is greater than 1800 mm, and the annual average aridity index (AI) is between 1.6 and 20.0 (Mao et al, 2006).…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Variation of Water Conservation Function and Its Influencing Factors of Alpine Grasslands in Northern Tibet from 2000 to 2020

Song

Huang

et al. 2023

Journal of Resources and Ecology

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

With an average elevation of more than 4500 m, northern Tibet, known as the “roof of the world roof”, serves as the main body of the Qinghai-Tibetan Plateau's ecological security barrier. However, the alpine grassland ecosystem in northern Tibet has suffered considerable alterations as a result of both climate change and overgrazing, and there is a degradation trend in some regions. In 2009, one ecological engineering, the Protection and Construction Project of Ecological Security Barrier in Tibet (hereafter referred to as the “Project”) was implemented to preserve the alpine ecosystem and restore service functions in the plateau. Water conservation is one of the most important service functions in alpine grassland ecosystem in northern Tibet, where is one part of the Asian Water Tower. To clarify the specific ecological benefits of the Project, this paper utilized the InVEST model to evaluate the variation trend of the water conservation function of alpine grasslands in northern Tibet before and after the implementation of the Project from 2000 to 2020, and contribution rate of climate change and the Project was also quantified. Results showed that: (1) Although the water conservation capacity of different grassland types in northern Tibet were varied, their water conservation function all altered dramatically after implementation of the Project. Specifically, the water yield has increased by 10.07%, and the water source supply service has increased by 8.86%. Among these grasslands, the alpine meadow had the highest increasing rate, water conservation capacity increased from –1.84 mm yr–1 to 2.24 mm yr–1 Followed by the alpine desert steppe and the alpine steppe, the rate of water conservation function were decreased significantly due to the Project. (2) Although climate is still the primary factor affecting the water conservation function of alpine grasslands in northern Tibet, the Project has effectively promoted the local water conservation function, with contribution rates of 13.99%, 8.75%, and 3.71% in the alpine meadow, alpine steppe and alpine desert steppe regions respectively.

show abstract

“Realistic strategies” and neutral processes drive the community assembly based on leaf functional traits in a subtropical evergreen broad‐leaved forest

Zhao

Xiang

et al. 2022

Ecology and Evolution

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Neutral‐theory‐based stochastic and niche‐theory‐based determinative processes are commonly used to explain the mechanisms of natural community assembly. However, considerable uncertainty remains regarding the relative importance of different ecological processes in shaping forest communities. Functional traits and phylogeny provide important information about plant environmental adaptation strategies and evolutionary history and promise a better mechanistic and predictive understanding of community assembly. Based on nine leaf functional traits and phylogenetic data of 18 dominant species in a Lithocarpus glaber–Cyclobalanopsis glauca evergreen broad‐leaved forest, we analyzed the variation in traits, explored the influence of phylogeny and environment on leaf traits, and distinguished the relative effects of spatial and environmental variables on functional traits and phylogenetic compositions. The results showed the following: (i) Leaf traits had moderate intraspecific variation, and significant interspecific variation existed especially among life forms. (ii) Significant phylogenetic signals were detected only in leaf thickness and leaf area. The correlations among traits both supported “the leaf economics spectrum” at the species and community levels, and the relationships significantly increased or only a little change after removing the phylogenetic influence, which showed a lack of consistency between the leaf functional trait patterns and phylogenetic patterns. We infer the coexistent species tended to adopt “realism” to adapt to their habitats. (iii) Soil total potassium and phosphorus content, altitude, aspect, and convexity were the most critical environmental factors affecting functional traits and phylogenetic composition. Total environmental and spatial variables explained 63.38% of the variation in functional trait composition and 47.96% of the variation in phylogenetic structures. Meanwhile, the contribution of pure spatial factors was significantly higher than that of the pure environment. Stochastic processes played dominant roles in driving community functional trait assembly, but determinative processes such as environmental filtering had a stronger effect on shaping community phylogenetic structure at a fine scale.

show abstract

Variation of leaf and root traits and ecological adaptive strategies along a precipitation gradient on Changtang Plateau

Cited by 5 publications

References 0 publications

Phenotypic Plasticity Strategy of Aeluropus lagopoides Grass in Response to Heterogenous Saline Habitats

Phenotypic Plasticity Strategy of Aeluropus lagopoides Grass in Response to Heterogenous Saline Habitats

Variation of Water Conservation Function and Its Influencing Factors of Alpine Grasslands in Northern Tibet from 2000 to 2020

“Realistic strategies” and neutral processes drive the community assembly based on leaf functional traits in a subtropical evergreen broad‐leaved forest

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About