Seasonal variations of leaf ecophysiological traits and strategies of co-occurring evergreen and deciduous trees in white oak forest in the central Himalaya.

Autor: Joshi RK; School of Environmental Sciences, Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi, 110067, India.; Department of Environmental Sciences, Daulat Ram College, University of Delhi, New Delhi, 110007, India., Gupta R; School of Environmental Sciences, Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi, 110067, India., Mishra A; School of Environmental Sciences, Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi, 110067, India., Garkoti SC; School of Environmental Sciences, Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi, 110067, India. sgarkoti@yahoo.com.
Jazyk: angličtina
Zdroj: Environmental monitoring and assessment [Environ Monit Assess] 2024 Jun 20; Vol. 196 (7), pp. 634. Date of Electronic Publication: 2024 Jun 20.
DOI: 10.1007/s10661-024-12771-3
Abstrakt: The present study investigates the seasonal variations in leaf ecophysiological traits and strategies employed by co-occurring evergreen and deciduous tree species within a white oak forest (Quercus leucotrichophora A. Camus) ecosystem in the central Himalaya. Seasonal variations in physiological, morphological, and chemical traits were observed from leaf initiation until senescence in co-occurring deciduous and evergreen tree species. We compared various parameters, including net photosynthetic capacity (A area and A mass ), leaf stomatal conductance (gsw area and gsw mass ), transpiration rate (E area and E mass ), specific leaf area (SLA), mid-day water potential (Ψ md ), leaf nitrogen (N) and phosphorus (P) concentration, leaf total chlorophyll concentration, photosynthetic nitrogen- and phosphorus-use efficiency (PNUE and PPUE), and water use efficiency (WUE) across four evergreen and four deciduous tree species. Our findings reveal that evergreen and deciduous trees exhibit divergent strategies in coping with seasonal changes, which are crucial for their survival and growth. Deciduous trees consistently exhibited significantly higher photosynthetic rates, transpiration rates, mass-based N and P concentrations (N mass and P mass ), mass-based chlorophyll concentration (Chl mass ), SLA, and leaf Ψ md , while maintaining lower leaf structural investments throughout the year compared to evergreen trees. These findings indicate that deciduous trees achieve greater assimilation rates per unit mass and higher nutrient-use efficiency. Physiological, morphological, and leaf N and P concentrations were higher in the summer (fully expanded leaf) than in the fall (senesced leaf). These insights provide valuable contributions to our understanding of tree species coexistence and their ecological roles in temperate forest ecosystems, with implications for forest management and conservation in the Himalayan region.
(© 2024. The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer Nature Switzerland AG.)
Databáze: MEDLINE
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