Effects of succession stages and altitudinal gradient on leaf surface area and biomass allocation of typical plants in the subalpine of Eastern Tibetan Plateau
| Autor: | Mei Wang, Li Wang, Ke-Tong Yang, Jinwu Zhang, Guo-Peng Chen, Junren Xian |
|---|---|
| Jazyk: | angličtina |
| Rok vydání: | 2021 |
| Předmět: |
0106 biological sciences
Biomass (ecology) Allometry Diminishing returns Ecology 010604 marine biology & hydrobiology Altitude Ecological succession Herbaceous plant Biology Trade-off 010603 evolutionary biology 01 natural sciences Fresh weight Epiphyte Ecology Evolution Behavior and Systematics Phylogeny QH540-549.5 Nature and Landscape Conservation Woody plant Scaling relationship |
| Zdroj: | Global Ecology and Conservation, Vol 27, Iss, Pp e01590-(2021) |
| ISSN: | 2351-9894 |
| Popis: | Leaves are the main organs of plants for photosynthesis. The scaling relationship between leaf mass (LM) and leaf area (LA) can reflect the capabilities of plants to capture light energy, obtain net carbon benefits, and adapt to environmental changes. The LA-LM relationship is intimately associated with the water and carbon economics of plants. The scaling relationship between LA and LM is important to reveal the strategies of plant biomass allocation with changes of environmental stresses. Previous studies primarily focused on relatively close plants within the same taxon (e.g., a family or a genus), different plants in different altitude gratient, or special groups such as epiphytes. However, it is still unknown about whether and how the scaling relationship between LM and LA varies across succession stages and altitudinal gratient. We measured LA, leaf fresh weight (LFW) and leaf dry weight (LDW) of 201 plant species with 603 individuals in nine plots in Zhouqu County of China to study the strategy of allometry relationships of LA and LM among different plant life forms, succession stages and altitudinal gratient. We found that the quotient of LDW and LFW for woody plants was significantly higher than that for herbaceous plants. In the process of adapting to changes of life forms, succession stages and altitudes, the scaling exponent of LFW vs. LA was more sensitive than that of LDW vs. LA. Most scaling relationships of LFW vs. LA conformed to the law of diminishing returns, but the scaling relationship between LDW and LA appeared more complicated. The scaling relationships between LDW and LFW mainly exhibited an increasing returns. Increasing returns were more obvious in life forms, middle altitude and mid-succession. In addition, no matter at which level, the coefficient of determination (i.e. R2) of LA vs. LFW was greater than that of LA vs. LDW. It might be more convincing to predict the relationship between LA and LM by using the data of LA vs. LFW. Most of (17 of 24, 70.83%) the R2 of PGLS (Phylogenetic Generalized Least Squares) regression were higher than those of SMA (Standardized Major Axis) regression, which showed that the influence of phylogeny should not be ignored in the study of multi-species traits relationships. In general, the trade off or allometry between LA and LM varied among plants life forms or environmental changes including succession stages and elevation variability. This pattern can be explained by different leaf strategies in response to environmental pressure and constrains. |
| Databáze: | OpenAIRE |
| Externí odkaz: |
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