Hydraulic prediction of drought‐induced plant dieback and top‐kill depends on leaf habit and growth form

Foliar phenologies of forest understory plants were categorized, and the distribution pattern of leaf habit was examined among different forest environments. Various patterns of foliar phenology were found, especially in herbaceous plants. In addition to the seasonal light regime controlled by the phenology of canopy trees, differences in the length of period with snow cover led to the divergence. Perennial-leaved plants predominate in intensely shaded habitats while annual-leaved plants are more abundant in less shaded habitats. The shade tolerance of perenniel-leaved plants can be considered a preadaptation to snow tolerance. In contrast with the perennial-leaved plants, biennial-leaved plants with leaves overwintering 1 year appear to be favored in euphotic habitats with high insulation both in spring and in autumn. These species are effective competitors in spring because of rapid emergence of current leaves, probably through retranslocation of resources accumulated in the previous year. Another adaptive trait is found in heteroptic plants simultaneously having summer-green leaves and overwintering leaves; these types of leaves seem to function in predictable and quite different environments in a year. Key words: foliar phenology, growth form, light resource, overwintering leaf, snow cover.

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A global analysis of elevational gradients in leaf herbivory and its underlying drivers: Effects of plant growth form, leaf habit and climatic correlates

Journal of Ecology ◽

10.1111/1365-2745.12866 ◽

2017 ◽

Vol 106 (1) ◽

pp. 413-421 ◽

Cited By ~ 24

Author(s):

Andrea Galmán ◽

Luis Abdala-Roberts ◽

Shuang Zhang ◽

Jorge C. Berny-Mier y Teran ◽

Sergio Rasmann ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Plant Growth ◽

Growth Form ◽

Global Analysis ◽

Elevational Gradients ◽

Leaf Habit ◽

Plant Growth Form ◽

Leaf Herbivory

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Monocharacter growth form types as a tool in an analytic-synthetic study of growth forms in mediterranean type ecosystems — A proposal for an inter-regional program

Ecologia mediterranea ◽

10.3406/ecmed.1982.1943 ◽

1982 ◽

Vol 8 (1) ◽

pp. 159-171 ◽

Cited By ~ 10

Author(s):

Guni Orshan

Keyword(s):

Growth Form ◽

Growth Forms ◽

Mediterranean Type Ecosystems

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Faculty Opinions recommendation of Non-structural carbon dynamics and allocation relate to growth rate and leaf habit in California oaks.

Faculty Opinions – Post-Publication Peer Review of the Biomedical Literature ◽

10.3410/f.725875595.793511766 ◽

2015 ◽

Author(s):

Christian Körner

Keyword(s):

Growth Rate ◽

Carbon Dynamics ◽

Leaf Habit ◽

Structural Carbon

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Herbicide Tolerance Of Transgenic `Stevens' Cranberry Plants Depends on the Test Environment

HortScience ◽

10.21273/hortsci.33.3.517a ◽

1998 ◽

Vol 33 (3) ◽

pp. 517a-517

Author(s):

Eric L. Zeldin ◽

Rodney A. Serres ◽

Brent H. McCown

Keyword(s):

Growth Form ◽

Herbicide Tolerance ◽

Genetically Engineered ◽

Shoot Tip ◽

Test Environment ◽

Growth Environment ◽

Commercial Formulation ◽

Tolerance Level ◽

Delayed Growth ◽

Significant Injury

`Stevens' cranberry was genetically engineered to confer tolerance to the broad spectrum herbicide glufosinate. Initially, herbicide tolerance was verified by spraying greenhouse plants with the commercial formulation Liberty. Although one transformant showed significant tolerance, the tolerance level was below that required to kill goldenrod, a common weed of cranberry beds. This transformant was propagated and the plants established outdoors in a coldframe, yielding a growth form more typical of field-grown plants than that of greenhouse-grown plants. These plants, as well as untransformed cranberry and goldenrod plants, were sprayed with various levels of the herbicide. The transformed plants were not killed at glufosinate concentrations up to 1000 ppm, although delayed growth did occur. Some runner tip injury was observed at 500 ppm as well as widespread shoot tip death at higher levels. The above-ground parts of goldenrod plants were killed at 400 ppm with significant injury at 200 ppm. Untransformed cranberry plants were killed at 300 ppm and had extensive tip death even at 100 ppm. Transformed cranberry plants with confirmed “field” tolerance were re-established in the greenhouse and new vegetative growth was forced. When these plants were sprayed with glufosinate, significant shoot tip injury was observed at levels as low as 100 ppm. The degree of herbicide tolerance of transformed cranberry appears to be modulated by the growth environment, which may affect the expression of the inserted genes or the physiological sensitivity of the impacted tissues.

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Form and Function of Mediterranean Shrublands

10.1093/oso/9780198739135.003.0006 ◽

2018 ◽

Author(s):

Karen J. Esler ◽

Anna L. Jacobsen ◽

R. Brandon Pratt

Keyword(s):

Convergent Evolution ◽

Growth Form ◽

Structure And Function ◽

Adaptive Traits ◽

Shrub Species ◽

Leaf Type ◽

Evergreen Shrub ◽

Form And Function ◽

Considerable Research ◽

And Function

The archetypal shrub type that dominates most of the regions that experience mediterranean-type climate (MTC) is an evergreen shrub with thick and leathery leaves (sclerophyllous). The occurrence of large stands of such shrubs in all MTC regions led early biogeographers to hypothesize that the MTC selects for this growth form and leaf type and that this had led to convergent evolution (see Chapters 1 and 2). This hypothesis has received considerable research interest and continues to be examined. In this chapter we consider the structure and physiology of these archetypal MTC region shrub species and examine evidence for convergent evolution in their structure and function. We also assess the key adaptive traits that enable the shrub species that compose mediterranean-type vegetation (MTV) communities to thrive in MTC regions.

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Integrating dark diversity and functional traits to enhance nature conservation of epiphytic lichens: a case study from Northern Italy

Biodiversity and Conservation ◽

10.1007/s10531-021-02211-w ◽

2021 ◽

Author(s):

Diego Pires Ferraz Trindade ◽

Meelis Pärtel ◽

Carlos Pérez Carmona ◽

Tiina Randlane ◽

Juri Nascimbene

Keyword(s):

Climate Change ◽

Nature Conservation ◽

Functional Traits ◽

Growth Form ◽

Northern Italy ◽

Epiphytic Lichens ◽

Mountain Areas ◽

High Elevations ◽

Harsh Conditions

AbstractMountains provide a timely opportunity to examine the potential effects of climate change on biodiversity. However, nature conservation in mountain areas have mostly focused on the observed part of biodiversity, not revealing the suitable but absent species—dark diversity. Dark diversity allows calculating the community completeness, indicating whether sites should be restored (low completeness) or conserved (high completeness). Functional traits can be added, showing what groups should be focused on. Here we assessed changes in taxonomic and functional observed and dark diversity of epiphytic lichens along elevational transects in Northern Italy spruce forests. Eight transects (900–1900 m) were selected, resulting in 48 plots and 240 trees, in which lichens were sampled using four quadrats per tree (10 × 50 cm). Dark diversity was estimated based on species co-occurrence (Beals index). We considered functional traits related to growth form, photobiont type and reproductive strategy. Linear and Dirichlet regressions were used to examine changes in taxonomic metrics and functional traits along gradient. Our results showed that all taxonomic metrics increased with elevation and functional traits of lichens differed between observed and dark diversity. At low elevations, due to low completeness and harsh conditions, both restoration and conservation activities are needed, focusing on crustose species. Towards high elevations, conservation is more important to prevent species pool losses, focusing on macrolichens, lichens with Trentepohlia and sexual reproduction. Finally, dark diversity and functional traits provide a novel tool to enhance nature conservation, indicating particular threatened groups, creating windows of opportunities to protect species from both local and regional extinctions.

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Within-Site Variability of Liana Wood Anatomical Traits: A Case Study in Laussat, French Guiana

Forests ◽

10.3390/f11050523 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 11 (5) ◽

pp. 523 ◽

Cited By ~ 1

Author(s):

Félicien Meunier ◽

Sruthi M. Krishna Moorthy ◽

Hannes P. T. De Deurwaerder ◽

Robin Kreus ◽

Jan Van den Bulcke ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Specific Gravity ◽

French Guiana ◽

Growth Form ◽

Vessel Diameter ◽

Small Sample ◽

Diameter Distribution ◽

Hydraulic Architecture ◽

Woody Vines ◽

Wood Trait ◽

The Individual

Research Highlights: We investigated the variability of vessel diameter distributions within the liana growth form among liana individuals originating from a single site in Laussat, French Guiana. Background and Objectives: Lianas (woody vines) are key components of tropical forests. Lianas are believed to be strong competitors for water, thanks to their presumed efficient vascular systems. However, unlike tropical trees, lianas are overlooked in field data collection. As a result, lianas are often referred to as a homogeneous growth form while little is known about the hydraulic architecture variation among liana individuals. Materials and Methods: We measured several wood hydraulic and structural traits (e.g., basic specific gravity, vessel area, and vessel diameter distribution) of 22 liana individuals in a single sandy site in Laussat, French Guiana. We compared the liana variability of these wood traits and the correlations among them with an existing liana pantropical dataset and two published datasets of trees originating from different, but species-rich, tropical sites. Results: Liana vessel diameter distribution and density were heterogeneous among individuals: there were two orders of magnitude difference between the smallest (4 µm) and the largest (494 µm) vessel diameters, a 50-fold difference existed between extreme vessel densities ranging from 1.8 to 89.3 vessels mm−2, the mean vessel diameter varied between 26 µm and 271 µm, and the individual theoretical stem hydraulic conductivity estimates ranged between 28 and 1041 kg m−1 s−1 MPa−1. Basic specific gravity varied between 0.26 and 0.61. Consequently, liana wood trait variability, even within a small sample, was comparable in magnitude with tree surveys from other tropical sites and the pantropical liana dataset. Conclusions: This study illustrates that even controlling for site and soil type, liana traits are heterogeneous and cannot be considered as a homogeneous growth form. Our results show that the liana hydraulic architecture heterogeneity across and within sites warrants further investigation in order to categorize lianas into functional groups in the same way as trees

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The Role of Recent (1985–2014) Patterns of Land Abandonment and Environmental Factors in the Establishment and Growth of Secondary Forests in the Iberian Peninsula

Land ◽

10.3390/land10080817 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 10 (8) ◽

pp. 817

Author(s):

Marina Palmero-Iniesta ◽

Josep Maria Espelta ◽

Mario Padial-Iglesias ◽

Òscar Gonzàlez-Guerrero ◽

Lluís Pesquer ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Environmental Factors ◽

Iberian Peninsula ◽

Forest Cover ◽

Secondary Forest ◽

Forest Growth ◽

Deciduous Forests ◽

Secondary Forests ◽

Study Region ◽

Leaf Habit ◽

Forest Establishment

Farmland abandonment has been a widespread land-use change in the Iberian Peninsula since the second half of the 20th century, leading to the establishment of secondary forests across the region. In this study, we aimed to address changes in the recent (1985–2014) emergence patterns of these forests and examine how environmental factors affected their growth by considering differences in leaf-habit types. We used a combination of Landsat-derived land-cover maps and aboveground biomass (AGB) maps from the European Space Agency to assess the secondary forest establishment and growth, respectively, in the study region. We also obtained a set of topographic, climatic and landscape variables from diverse GIS layers and used them for determining changes over time in the environmental drivers of forest establishment and AGB using general linear models. The results highlight that secondary forest cover was still increasing in the Iberian Peninsula at a rate above the European average. Yet, they also indicate a directional change in the emergence of secondary forests towards lower and less steep regions with higher water availability (mean rainfall and SPEI) and less forest cover but are subjected to greater drought events. In addition, these environmental factors differentially affect the growth of forests with different leaf-habit types: i.e., needleleaf secondary forests being less favoured by high temperature and precipitation, and broadleaf deciduous forests being most negatively affected by drought. Finally, these spatial patterns of forest emergence and the contrasting responses of forest leaf-habits to environmental factors explained the major development of broadleaf evergreen compared to broadleaf deciduous forests and, especially, needleleaf secondary forests. These results will improve the knowledge of forest dynamics that have occurred in the Iberian Peninsula in recent decades and provide an essential tool for understanding the potential effects of climate warming on secondary forest growth.

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