scholarly journals Plant age affects intraspecific variation in functional traits

Plant Ecology ◽  
2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jonathan J. Henn ◽  
Ellen I. Damschen
Keyword(s):  
Leaf Area ◽  
Intraspecific Variation ◽  
Functional Traits ◽  
Mass Fraction ◽  
Matter Content ◽  
Adult Plant ◽  
Plant Responses ◽  
Dry Matter Content ◽  
Related Variation ◽  
Herbaceous Perennial

AbstractFunctional traits are often used to examine ecological patterns and processes. Ontogeny—changes that occur over time as the result of development—generates variation in traits within individual organisms. We aimed to quantify the role of ontogeny in structuring functional trait variation across a range of co-existing herbaceous perennial species and hypothesized that ontogenetic variation in traits would be greater in younger vs. older plants. We grew eight herbaceous perennial forb species common in tallgrass prairies from seed in a greenhouse in Madison, Wisconsin, USA to determine how and when time-related variation in functional traits is large relative to other sources of variation, such as differences between leaves and species. We destructively measured common functional traits on four individuals of each species every two weeks for 19 weeks, including leaf mass fraction, root mass fraction, stem mass fraction, specific leaf area, leaf dry matter content, and leaf area. We found that most functional traits indeed change through time, that the direction of many changes are consistent between species but the magnitude of change is species specific, and most time-related variation occurred earlier in development. These results emphasize the importance of considering sampling timing and differences between young and old plants when measuring functional traits. Our results suggest that ontogenetic intraspecific variation can be substantial, especially early in life. It may be problematic to use traits measured from mature plants to interpret the importance of processes that occur at earlier life stages or vice versa; using seedling traits to understand adult plant responses may also be inappropriate.

Environmental factors driving plant trait distributions in coastal zones of Atlantic Forest

Rodriguésia ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 72 ◽  
Author(s):  
Lays Lins ◽  
Juliana Da Silva-Pinheiro ◽  
Ricardo Correia ◽  
Laurício Endres ◽  
Ana Cláudia Mendes Malhado ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Intraspecific Variation ◽  
Functional Traits ◽  
Community Assembly ◽  
Environmental Gradients ◽  
Species Turnover ◽  
Principal Component ◽  
Matter Content ◽  
Dry Matter Content ◽  
Coastal Zones ◽  
Environmental Filters

Abstract Environmental filtering has been defined as the effect of environmental gradients on species in a plant community and can be the dominant driver of community assembly. Here, we evaluate the relationship between plant communities and the environment in the Restinga vegetation. For this, we measured 11 functional traits of plant species present along transects covering a marked edaphic environmental gradient. This gradient was characterized through Principal Component Analysis of soil characteristics. The relationships between the edaphic gradient and functional traits were evaluated using linear models. Finally, we compared the contributions of species turnover and intraspecific variation to among-site variation in functional traits. The gradients associated with soil nutrients (PCA axis 1) and soil acidity and organic matter (PCA axis 2) were then used to test the observed changes in community composition and were significant predictors of the distribution of water potential, leaf dry matter content and K content, height and chlorophyll index. Decomposing the total variation in the distribution of functional traits between species turnover and intraspecific variation revealed that species turnover explains a greater proportion of the observed variation. We conclude that community assembly is strongly limited by environmental filters and mediated by functional traits at the species level.

Shrub traits of forest and shrubland reveal different growth strategies

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jian Ni ◽  
Jiayu Cao ◽  
Quan Yuan
Keyword(s):  
Leaf Area ◽  
Functional Traits ◽  
Dry Matter ◽  
Life Forms ◽  
Matter Content ◽  
Dry Matter Content ◽  
Forest Communities ◽  
Deciduous Shrubs ◽  
Evergreen Shrubs ◽  
Understory Shrubs

<p>Shrub plants play important roles in both forest and shrubland ecosystems. Analyzing the differences of functional traits of shrubs grown in understory of forest communities and in various shrublands can explore the adaptation strategies of shrubs in different habitats. Nine functional traits of leaf and twig collected from 20 dominant shrub species in 24 plots distributed in three habitats: forest shrub layer, secondary shrubland and primary shrubland, in Beishan Mountain of Jinhua, Zhejiang Province, eastern China, were measured. The overall differences, inter- and intra-specific variations and the differences in various life forms of shrub traits in three different habitats were statistically analyzed. Results show that: 1) There are differences of nine plant traits for shrubs grown in three different habitats. The understory shrubs have larger leaf area (LA) and specific leaf area (SLA), smaller leaf dry matter content (LDMC), leaf tissue density (LTD) and twig tissue density (TTD), while shrubs in secondary shrubland have larger leaf thickness (LT) and LTD, smaller SLA and twig dry matter content (TDMC) compared with shrubs from the primary shrubland. 2) The intraspecific variation coefficients of SLA, twig diameter (TD), TTD, and TDMC in understory shrubs are the largest, while the interspecific variation coefficients of SLA, LDMC, TDMC, and TTD in ​​secondary shrubland are the smallest. 3) Among different life forms, the understory evergreen shrubs have significant higher LT, LTD, and LDMC than deciduous shrubs, while deciduous shrubs have significant higher SLA than evergreen shrubs. The differences of LT and SLA between evergreen and deciduous shrubs of primary shrubland are the same as those of understory shrubs, but the differences of LTD and LDMC between evergreen and deciduous shrubs have the opposite trend. 4) The main source affecting shrub traits is species, along with an explanation ratio from 38.01% to 78.92%. The second source is habitat. In short, compared to shrubs from shrublands, understory shrubs in forest communities form a series of trait combinations that are larger LA and SLA, smaller LTD, TTD, and LDMC to adapt to the understory environment with less light and stronger competition. Secondary shrubland, compared to the primary shrubland, has a series of shrub trait combinations that are larger LT, LTD and TD, smaller LA, SLA, TDMC and twig bark thickness (TBT) to store more nutrients.</p>

scholarly journals Functional Traits of Olive Varieties and Their Relationship with the Tolerance Level towards Verticillium Wilt

Plants ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 10 (6) ◽  
pp. 1079
Author(s):  
Martina Cardoni ◽  
Jesús Mercado-Blanco ◽  
Rafael Villar
Keyword(s):  
Functional Traits ◽  
Verticillium Wilt ◽  
Dry Matter ◽  
Lignin Content ◽  
Root System Architecture ◽  
Root Diameter ◽  
Matter Content ◽  
Dry Matter Content ◽  
Tolerance Level ◽  
Olive Varieties

Verticillium wilt of olive (VWO), caused by the soil-borne pathogen Verticillium dahliae, is considered one of the most important diseases affecting this tree crop. One of the best VWO management measures is the use of tolerant cultivars. Remarkably, no information is available about olive functional traits and their potential relationship with tolerance to V. dahliae. Twenty-five selected functional traits (for leaf, stem, root and whole plant) were evaluated in six olive varieties differing in their VWO tolerance level to identify possible links between this phenotype and functional traits’ variation. High intervarietal diversity was found among cultivars and several functional traits were related with VWO tolerance. Tolerant varieties showed higher leaf area, dry matter content (leaf, stem and plant) and mass fraction for stems, but lower for leaves. Significant differences were also detected for root functional traits, tolerant cultivars displaying larger fine root diameter and lignin content but smaller specific length and area of thick and fine roots. Correlations were found among functional traits both within varieties and between levels of tolerance/susceptibility to VWO. Associations were observed between biomass allocation, dry matter content and VWO tolerance. The most relevant difference between tolerant and susceptible cultivars was related to root system architecture.

scholarly journals Functional Trait Responses to Strip Clearcutting in a Moso Bamboo Forest

Forests ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 12 (6) ◽  
pp. 793
Author(s):  
Yaxiong Zheng ◽  
Fengying Guan ◽  
Shaohui Fan ◽  
Yang Zhou ◽  
Xiong Jing
Keyword(s):  
Leaf Area ◽  
Functional Traits ◽  
Root Length ◽  
Fine Root ◽  
Root Traits ◽  
Moso Bamboo ◽  
Leaf Nitrogen Content ◽  
Dry Matter Content ◽  
Functional Characteristics ◽  
Functional Features

Functional characteristics reflect plant strategies and adaptability to the changing environment. Determining the dynamics of these characteristics after harvesting would improve the understanding of forest response strategies. Strip clearcutting (SC) of moso bamboo forests, which significantly reduces the cutting cost, has been proposed to replace manual selective harvesting. A comparison of restoration features shows that 8 m is the optimal cutting width. However, the precise response of functional features to the resulting harvest-created gap remains unclear. In this study, three SC plots were selected which was performed in February 2019, with three unharvested plots as a control (C). The study focused on 10 functional traits, including leaf area (LA), specific leaf area (SLA), leaf dry matter content (LDMC), leaf nitrogen content (LNC), leaf phosphorus content (LPC), nitrogen/phosphorus ratio (N:P), wood density (WD), fine root biomass (FRB), specific fine root length (SRL), and root length density (RLD). A one-way ANOVA was used to compare differences in functional traits and soil nutrients between treatments. Strip clearcutting significantly reduced the soil organic carbon (SOC) and total nitrogen (TN) contents (p < 0.05). In terms of functional characteristics, SC significantly decreased LA and increased LNC, LPC, and N:P (p < 0.05). However, SC had no significant effect on fine root traits (p > 0.05). This study highlighted that root trait, soil content of total phosphorus (TP) and total potassium (TK) returned to the level of uncut plots after a year’s recovery. The LPC, LNC, and N:P were negatively correlated with LA, and LDMC and WD were negatively correlated with SLA, while the effect of SC on fine root traits was limited (p > 0.05). Fine root traits (FRB, RLD, and SRL) were positively associated with SOC, TN, and TP, but negatively correlated with TK. The changes in soil nutrient content caused by the removal of biomass were normal. Increased light and the rapid growth of new trees will increase nutrient regressions; therefore, these results further confirm the feasibility of SC.

scholarly journals Physiological plasticity of main tree species of lowland hornbeamoak forest as a results of forest gap regeneration

2016 ◽  
pp. 99-103
Author(s):  
Árpád Szalacsi ◽  
Gergely Király ◽  
Szilvia Veres
Keyword(s):  
Leaf Area ◽  
Specific Leaf Area ◽  
Dry Matter ◽  
Light Condition ◽  
Matter Content ◽  
Plant Production ◽  
Dry Matter Content ◽  
Plant Life ◽  
Sun And Shade ◽  
Opening Process

Specific leaf area (SLA) of English oak (Quercus robur L.) and hornbeam (Carpinus betulus L.) as members of Querco robori-Carpinetum were investigated in two different habitat in terms of gap forest management: in the gap and in the inert forest. The artificial opening process of the forest resulted in more light for growing saplings and need for acclimatization. Photosynthesis is one of the most important ways for plant life and plant production basically influenced by altered light condition resulted in opening process. Efficient photosynthesis is important for plant life, plant production, but species-dependent plasticity of photosynthesis makes one species more tolerant, than others. The specific leaf area is acceptable parameters for characterising plant production, dry matter content and leaf structure. The dry matter content based on known leaf area is higher in oak both sun and shade leaves, than hornbeam. The different place of leaves in the canopy of trees did not influence the values of SLA.

scholarly journals Direct and Indirect Effects of Precipitation Change and Nutrients Addition on Desert Steppe Productivity in Inner Mongolia, Northern China

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Xinxin Guo ◽  
Xiaoan Zuo ◽  
Ping Yue ◽  
Xiangyun Li ◽  
Ya Hu
Keyword(s):  
Species Diversity ◽  
Functional Traits ◽  
Structural Equation ◽  
Matter Content ◽  
Nutrient Addition ◽  
Global Changes ◽  
Leaf Nitrogen Content ◽  
Dry Matter Content ◽  
Desert Steppe ◽  
Precipitation Changes

Abstract Background and Aims Global changes profoundly impact on structure and function of grassland ecosystem. However, it remains unclear on the mechanism of how multiple limiting resources affect plant community primary productivity (ANPP) in desert steppe.Methods Here, we conducted an experiment to examine the effects of precipitation changes (natural and ± 50% precipitation) and nutrient addition (=N: 0 g·m-2·yr-1; +N: N 10 g·m-2·yr-1; +NPK: N/P/K each for 10 g·m-2·yr-1) on species diversity, ANPP, functional traits and soil properties. We used structural equation model (SEM) to evaluate the effects of precipitation changes and nutrient addition on ANPP.Results Increased precipitation increased species diversity and ANPP under NPK addition, NPK addition increased ANPP under increased precipitation, and the interaction of precipitation changes and nutrient addition was significant for ANPP. Drought reduced plant height and leaf dry matter content (LDMC), but increased leaf nitrogen content (LNC). ANPP was positively correlated with species richness, abundance, height and LDMC, but negatively correlated with specific leaf area (SLA) and LNC. The SEM showed increased precipitation and nutrient addition directly increased ANPP. Altered precipitation indirectly affected ANPP through its effect on abundance and SLA, while nutrient addition indirectly affected ANPP only through its effect on abundance.Conclusion The combined limitations of precipitation and multiple nutrients deserves more attention in studying the effect of global changes on productivity in arid steppe. Our results highlight the importance of species diversity and functional traits in driving short-term responses of ANPP to environmental factors in desert steppe ecosystems.

The growth of maize

1978 ◽  
Vol 90 (3) ◽  
pp. 569-577 ◽  
Author(s):  
G. O. Iremiren ◽  
G. M. Milbourn
Keyword(s):  
Leaf Area ◽  
Dry Matter ◽  
Matter Content ◽  
Net Assimilation Rate ◽  
Dry Matter Content ◽  
Dry Matter Yield ◽  
Assimilation Rate ◽  
Maize Silage ◽  
Area Index ◽  
Net Assimilation

SummaryTotal dry-matter yield of maize silage rose asymptotically as density was increased up to 17 plants/m2. Over the range 11–17 plants/m2, which is generally higher than is used in the U.K., the increase in yield was 1–1·6 t dry matter/ha which can justify the higher seed cost and although there was no adverse affect on time of maturity the risk of lodging increased at the highest density. During the harvest period whilst whole crop dry-matter percentage was rising from 23 to 28%, the ear dry-matter content rose steadily from 29 to 35%, whereas the leaf and stem dry-matter content remained essentially constant and only dried out at a later stage after a frost.Caldera 535 had a higher leaf area index and net assimilation rate than the earlier variety Julia which it outyielded by 15%. The additional yield was mainly stem tissue and the greater vegetative production caused an 11-day delay in reaching the silage stage of maturity (25% crop D.M.). NO differences occurred between density treatments and varieties in the forage quality components considered, namely percentage drymatter digestibility, modified acid-detergent fibre, crude protein and ash. Thus in U.K. conditions, total dry-matter yield exerts an overriding influence on the yields per unit area of these quality constituents. This contrasts with reports from the U.S.A. in which a reduced grain/stover ratio adversely influences silage quality.Removal of the whole ear (including husk and rachis) at an early stage in ear development resulted in a 50% reduction in the final dry-matter yield. In the earless plants, leaf area and net assimilation rate was lower, but the dry-matter content of the leaves and stem was considerably higher, and a marked purple coloration developed indicative of excess starch concentration. These results emphasize the need in maize silage not only for an adequate leaf canopy, best obtained early in the growing season by using high planting density and subsequently by using late maturing varieties, but also for sufficient sink capacity in the ear as well as in the stem fraction.

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