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Akram MA, Wang X, Shrestha N, Zhang Y, Sun Y, Yao S, Li J, Hou Q, Hu W, Ran J, Deng J. Variations and driving factors of leaf functional traits in the dominant desert plant species along an environmental gradient in the drylands of China. Sci Total Environ 2023; 897:165394. [PMID: 37437630 DOI: 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2023.165394] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/05/2023] [Revised: 07/05/2023] [Accepted: 07/06/2023] [Indexed: 07/14/2023]
Abstract
Leaf functional traits (LFTs) of desert plants are responsive, adaptable and highly plastic to their environment. However, the macroscale variation in LFTs and driving factors underlying this variation remain unclear, especially for desert plants. Here, we measured eight LFTs, including leaf carbon concentration (LCC), leaf nitrogen concentration (LNC), leaf phosphorus concentration (LPC), specific leaf area (SLA), leaf dry matter content (LDMC), leaf mass per area (LMA), leaf thickness (LTH) and leaf tissue density (LTD) across 114 sites along environmental gradient in the drylands of China and in Guazhou Common Garden and evaluated the effect of environment and phylogeny on the LFTs. We noted that for all species, the mean values of LCC, LNC, LPC, SLA, LDMC, LMA, LTH and LTD were 384.62 mg g-1, 19.91 mg g-1, 1.12 mg g-1, 79.62 cm2 g-1, 0.74 g g-1, 237.39 g m-2, 0.38 mm and 0.91 g cm-3, respectively. LFTs exhibited significant geographical variations and the LNC, LMA and LTH in the plants of Guazhou Common Garden were significantly higher than the field sites in the drylands of China. LDMC and LTD of plants in Guazhou Common Garden were, however, considerably lower than those in the drylands of China. LCC, LPC, LTH and LTD differed significantly among different plant lifeforms, while LNC, SLA, LDMC and LMA didn't show significant variations. We found that the environmental variables explained higher spatial variations (3.6-66.3 %) in LFTs than the phylogeny (1.8-54.2 %). The LCC significantly increased, while LDMC and LTD decreased with increased temperature and reduced precipitation. LPC, LDMC, LMA, and LTD significantly increased, while SLA and LTH decreased with increased aridity. However, leaf elements were not significantly correlated with soil nutrients. The mean annual precipitation was a key factor controlling variations in LFTs at the macroscale in the drylands of China. These findings will provide new insights to better understand the response of LFTs and plants adaptation along environmental gradient in drylands, and will serve as a reference for studying biogeographic patterns of leaf traits.
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Affiliation(s)
- Muhammad Adnan Akram
- School of Economics, Lanzhou University, Lanzhou 730000, China; State Key Laboratory of Herbage Improvement and Grassland Agro-ecosystems (SKLHIGA), College of Ecology, Lanzhou University, Lanzhou 730000, China.
| | - Xiaoting Wang
- State Key Laboratory of Herbage Improvement and Grassland Agro-ecosystems (SKLHIGA), College of Ecology, Lanzhou University, Lanzhou 730000, China
| | - Nawal Shrestha
- State Key Laboratory of Herbage Improvement and Grassland Agro-ecosystems (SKLHIGA), College of Ecology, Lanzhou University, Lanzhou 730000, China
| | - Yahui Zhang
- State Key Laboratory of Herbage Improvement and Grassland Agro-ecosystems (SKLHIGA), College of Ecology, Lanzhou University, Lanzhou 730000, China
| | - Ying Sun
- State Key Laboratory of Herbage Improvement and Grassland Agro-ecosystems (SKLHIGA), College of Ecology, Lanzhou University, Lanzhou 730000, China
| | - Shuran Yao
- State Key Laboratory of Herbage Improvement and Grassland Agro-ecosystems (SKLHIGA), College of Ecology, Lanzhou University, Lanzhou 730000, China
| | - Jinhui Li
- State Key Laboratory of Herbage Improvement and Grassland Agro-ecosystems (SKLHIGA), College of Ecology, Lanzhou University, Lanzhou 730000, China
| | - Qingqing Hou
- State Key Laboratory of Herbage Improvement and Grassland Agro-ecosystems (SKLHIGA), College of Ecology, Lanzhou University, Lanzhou 730000, China
| | - Weigang Hu
- State Key Laboratory of Herbage Improvement and Grassland Agro-ecosystems (SKLHIGA), College of Ecology, Lanzhou University, Lanzhou 730000, China
| | - Jinzhi Ran
- State Key Laboratory of Herbage Improvement and Grassland Agro-ecosystems (SKLHIGA), College of Ecology, Lanzhou University, Lanzhou 730000, China
| | - Jianming Deng
- State Key Laboratory of Herbage Improvement and Grassland Agro-ecosystems (SKLHIGA), College of Ecology, Lanzhou University, Lanzhou 730000, China.
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