scholarly journals Intraspecific Variation on Palm Leaf Traits of Co-occurring Species—Does Local Hydrology Play a Role?

2021 ◽  
Vol 4 ◽  
Author(s):  
Thaise Emilio ◽  
Havle Pereira ◽  
Flávia R. C. Costa
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
Leaf Area ◽  
Intraspecific Variation ◽  
Leaf Traits ◽  
Species Level ◽  
Species Identity ◽  
Trait Variation ◽  
Amazonian Forest ◽  
Palm Species ◽  
Local Hydrology

The study of plant species and trait distributions can provide answers to many of the ecological challenges of our times, from climate change to the biodiversity crisis. Although traits are classically measured at the species level, understanding intraspecific variation is necessary to determine the type of response species will have to climate change. Here we measured and analyzed seven leaf traits (leaf area—LA, specific leaf area—SLA, leaf thickness—LT, leaf dry mass content—LDMC, venation density—VD, stomata length—SL, and stomata density—SD) across 14 locally dominant palm species (10 individuals/species) distributed along hydro-topographic gradients (1.4–37 m of terrain height above nearest drainage) of a central Amazonian forest to disentangle the role of species identity, relatedness, and local hydrology on trait variation and covariation. Our results show that trait variation is not always larger between species than within species as expected. Intraspecific variation accounted for 23–74% of trait variation depending on the trait. Most of the variation happened at species level for SL, LA, LT, and SD but not for SLA, VD, and LDMC. For a third of the traits (LDMC, SLA, and SD), we found some evidence of phylogenetic inertia. This lack of independency among traits is confirmed by the maintenance of strong correlation among some of those traits after controlling for local environmental conditions. Intraspecific variation, however, was not related to height above nearest drainage for any of the traits. Most of the trait–environment relationships were species-specific. Therefore, the change in palm trait composition detected along topography, from higher community means of SLA and LA, lower LT, LDMC, SL, and SD in the wet valleys to opposite traits in drier plateaus, is mostly due to the turnover in species composition and relative abundance variation. We conclude these palm species have well-defined hydrological niches, but their large intraspecific variation in leaf traits does not contribute to the adjustment of individuals to the local hydrological conditions in this Amazonian forest.

scholarly journals Just how big is intraspecific trait variation in basidiomycete wood fungal fruit bodies?

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Samantha K. Dawson ◽  
Mari Jönsson
Keyword(s):  
Intraspecific Variation ◽  
Community Dynamics ◽  
Niche Partitioning ◽  
Fruit Body ◽  
Interspecific Variation ◽  
Functional Trait ◽  
Species Level ◽  
Fungal Ecology ◽  
Species Identity ◽  
Trait Variation

AbstractAs the use of functional trait approaches is growing in fungal ecology, there is a corresponding need to understand trait variation. Much of trait theory and statistical techniques are built on the assumption that interspecific variation is larger than intraspecific variation. This allows the use of mean trait values for species, which the vast majority of trait studies adopt. We examined the size of intra- vs. inter-specific variation in two wood fungal fruit body traits: size and density. Both coefficients of variation (CV) and Trait Probability Density analyses were used to quantify trait variation. We found that intraspecific variation in fruit body density was more than twice as variable as interspecific variation, and fruit body size was hugely variable (CVs averaged 190%), although interspecific variation was larger. Further, there was a very high degree of overlap in the trait space of species, indicating that there may be little niche partitioning at the species level. These findings show that intraspecific variation is highly important and should be accounted for when using trait approaches to understand fungal ecology. More data on variation of other fungal traits is also desperately needed to ascertain whether the high level of variation found here is typical for fungi. While the need to measure individuals does reduce the ability to generalise at the species level, it does not negate the usefulness of fungal trait measurements. There are two reasons for this: first, the ecology of most fungal species remains poorly known and trait measurements address this gap; and secondly, if trait overlap between species more generally is as much as we found here, then individual measurements may be more helpful than species identity for untangling fungal community dynamics.

scholarly journals Distinct Responses of Leaf Traits to Environment and Phylogeny Between Herbaceous and Woody Angiosperm Species in China

2021 ◽  
Vol 12 ◽  
Author(s):  
Nannan An ◽  
Nan Lu ◽  
Bojie Fu ◽  
Mengyu Wang ◽  
Nianpeng He
Keyword(s):  
Leaf Area ◽  
Woody Species ◽  
Leaf Traits ◽  
Mean Annual Precipitation ◽  
Mean Annual Temperature ◽  
Dry Matter Content ◽  
Trait Variation ◽  
Leaf Trait ◽  
Environment Variables ◽  
Angiosperm Species

Leaf traits play key roles in plant resource acquisition and ecosystem processes; however, whether the effects of environment and phylogeny on leaf traits differ between herbaceous and woody species remains unclear. To address this, in this study, we collected data for five key leaf traits from 1,819 angiosperm species across 530 sites in China. The leaf traits included specific leaf area, leaf dry matter content, leaf area, leaf N concentration, and leaf P concentration, all of which are closely related to trade-offs between resource uptake and leaf construction. We quantified the relative contributions of environment variables and phylogeny to leaf trait variation for all species, as well as for herbaceous and woody species separately. We found that environmental factors explained most of the variation (44.4–65.5%) in leaf traits (compared with 3.9–23.3% for phylogeny). Climate variability and seasonality variables, in particular, mean temperature of the warmest and coldest seasons of a year (MTWM/MTWQ and MTCM/MTCQ) and mean precipitation in the wettest and driest seasons of a year (MPWM/MPWQ and MPDM/MPDQ), were more important drivers of leaf trait variation than mean annual temperature (MAT) and mean annual precipitation (MAP). Furthermore, the responses of leaf traits to environment variables and phylogeny differed between herbaceous and woody species. Our study demonstrated the different effects of environment variables and phylogeny on leaf traits among different plant growth forms, which is expected to advance the understanding of plant adaptive strategies and trait evolution under different environmental conditions.

Seasonal variation in foliar properties in Mediterranean Pine forests of different post-fire age

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Christodoulos I Sazeides ◽  
Nikolaos M Fyllas ◽  
Anastasia Christopoulou
Keyword(s):  
Leaf Area ◽  
Intraspecific Variation ◽  
Light Response ◽  
Leaf Traits ◽  
Seasonal Patterns ◽  
Dry Matter Content ◽  
Sapwood Area ◽  
Pinus Brutia ◽  
Foliar Traits ◽  
Trait Variability

<p>Foliar properties play a crucial role in local and global biochemical cycles. Systematic variation in key leaf traits has been reported both between and within species. Intraspecific variation in leaf traits is controlled by micro-environmental conditions and follows seasonal patterns. In this study we examine the seasonal patterns of six foliar traits including leaf area (LA), leaf thickness (Lth), leaf mass per area (LMA), leaf dry matter content (LDMC), leaf area to sapwood area ratio (LA/SA) and branch wood density (WD) in addition to the associated parameters of the Michaelis-Menten light response curve (i.e. light saturated net photosynthetic rate (Asat), half saturation coefficient (Km) and dark respiration rate (Rd)). We measured on a monthly basis the foliar traits and developed light response curves in four Pinus brutia dominated stands along a post-fire chronosequence (15, 40, 70 and 90 years) from sunlit branches. Significant differences in the interannual trait variability were found between stands for LDMC, WD and Asat, with the highest variability identified in the younger plot. LA/SA, Rd and Km also showed strong interannual variability although not statistically different between plots. A mixed effect model analysis revealed high intraclass correlation coefficients for Km and Asat suggesting that net photosynthesis is following systematic seasonal patterns. Overall LA was higher and LDMC was lower in the oldest plot and WD was higher in the denser (40 years) plot. Interestingly gas exchange parameters did not show differences in their overall mean values. Across plots, Asat was strongly positively related to Km, and LMA was positively related to LDMC and Lth. LDMC was also positively related with Asat and negatively with Lth. A principal component analysis (PCA) revealed two major dimensions of intraspecific trait variability within our plots. The first PCA axis was positively related to Asat, Km, LDMC and LMA suggesting that regardless of the stand age needles are placed along a fast-slow carbon gain dimension with denser needles illustrating faster area-based photosynthesis. The second PCA axis was positively related to LA and Lth suggesting that bigger needles are also thicker. A subsequent permutational multivariate analysis of variance revealed that the centroids and the dispersion of the trait syndromes differed between stands, with the youngest plot illustrating higher trait dispersion and the oldest plot characterized by bigger and thicker needles. Thus, in older stands were competition for light is higher, needles are deployed to be bigger and thicker to optimize light capture, while in younger stands they are optimized along a leaf density - photosynthetic capacity spectrum depending on (more heterogeneous) microenvironmental conditions. Our findings illustrate that intraspecific variation can be attributed to either seasonal (abiotic) light availability or to (biotic) heterogeneity related to stand structure, and have important implications for local scale forest dynamics models.</p><p>«This research is co-financed by Greece and the European Union (European Social Fund- ESF) through the Operational Programme «Human Resources Development, Education and Lifelong Learning 2014-2020» in the context of the project “Carbon fluxes across a post-fire chronosequence in Pinus brutia Ten forests.” (MIS 5049513)».</p>

scholarly journals Allometric Models to Estimate Carbon Content in Arecaceae Based on Seven Species of Neotropical Palms

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Milena Cambronero ◽  
Gerardo Avalos ◽  
Carolina Alvarez-Vergnani
Keyword(s):  
Carbon Content ◽  
Leaf Area ◽  
Dry Mass ◽  
Total Carbon ◽  
Species Identity ◽  
Total Carbon Content ◽  
Allometric Models ◽  
Wide Range ◽  
Palm Species ◽  
Canopy Species

Abstract We present allometric models to estimate total carbon content and above ground carbon (AGC) for the family Arecaceae, and for 7 abundant neotropical palm species (the canopy species Socratea exorrhiza and Iriartea deltoidea , the sub-canopy palm Euterpe precatoria , and the understory species Asterogyne martiana , Prestoea decurrens , Geonoma interrupta and Chamaedorea tepejilote ). The study was done in the tropical rainforests of the Caribbean slope of Costa Rica. We harvested 87 individuals of a wide range of sizes, and divided them into roots, stems, and leaves, weight their fresh and dry biomass, calculated the carbon content, tissue density, leaf area, and shoot:root ratios (based on biomass and carbon content). The general palm model estimating total carbon content accounted for 92% of the variation and had diameter at breast height, stem height, and dry mass fraction as predictor variables. We generated a similar model to estimate AGC, which included the same variables and explained 91% of the variation. We compared our AGC model with two models used to estimate palm carbon content: Goldman et al. (2013)´s and Chave et al. (2014)´s models and found a range of R 2 values ​​of 0.87 to 0.91. Understory palm allometry was centered around biomass allocation, whereas sub-canopy and canopy species were associated with traits related to palm size (mainly DBH, total height, and leaf area). The efficiency the allometric models depends on species identity, sample size, and size range.

scholarly journals Understanding Intraspecific Trait Variability Using Digital Herbarium Specimen Images

2020 ◽  
Vol 4 ◽  
Author(s):  
Vamsi Krishna Kommineni ◽  
Jens Kattge ◽  
Jitendra Gaikwad ◽  
Pramod Baddam ◽  
Susanne Tautenhahn
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
Leaf Area ◽  
Intraspecific Variability ◽  
Leaf Traits ◽  
Data Availability ◽  
Herbarium Specimens ◽  
Petiole Length ◽  
Length Width ◽  
Spatio Temporal ◽  
Intraspecific Trait Variability

Plant traits are vital to quantify, understand and predict plant and vegetation ecology, including responses to environmental and climate change. Leaf traits are among the best sampled, with more than 200,000 records for individual traits. Nevertheless, their coverage is still strongly limited, especially with respect to characterizing variation within species and across longer time scales. However, to date, more than 3000 herbaria worldwide have collected 390 million plant specimens, dating from the 16th century. At present, the herbarium specimens are rapidly digitized and the images are made openly available to facilitate research and biodiversity conservation. In this study, we determined the potential of the digitized herbarium specimens images to: overcome limitations of data availability for quantitative leaf traits such as the area, length, width along with petiole length and use the trait values to understand the intraspecific variability across spatio-temporal scales. overcome limitations of data availability for quantitative leaf traits such as the area, length, width along with petiole length and use the trait values to understand the intraspecific variability across spatio-temporal scales. For the study, initially, specimen metadata was analysed from various online resources such as the Global Plants Database, Natural History Museum Paris, iDigBio and Global Biodiversity Information Facility (GBIF). Based on the completeness of the metadata, image availability, and the ease of measuring the leaf traits, we selected Salix bebbiana, Alnus incana, Viola canina, Salix glauca, Impatiens capensis, Chenopodium album, and Solanum dulcamara for the study. The semi-automated tool TraitEx (Gaikwad et al. 2019) was used to measure quantitative leaf traits such as the leaf area, perimeter, width, length and petiole length. Finally, excluding duplicates, we downloaded 17383 digital herbarium specimen images from iDigBio and GBIF, which included specimens from the 17th century to the present. However, about 5000 had insufficient information or quality issues, including not-yet-identified duplicates, or no intact leaves. For each selected image we measured four leaf traits - area, length, width and perimeter of the leaf blade - on up to 5 leaves. In sum, we collected about 120,000 trait records from 32009 leaves. Comparison of measured leaf traits to data from the TRY Plant Trait database (Kattge et al. 2019) revealed that we could improve the database for studying intraspecific trait variability by several orders of magnitude (from less than 10-100 records per species to >1000). The variation of trait records within the seven species shows reasonable patterns, which improves trust in the data quality. The extracted trait measurements were used to analyse the intraspecific variability for the species across different spatio-temporal resolutions. Machine learning method (random forest) was used to perform the analysis and the results revealed the imprint of spatial and temporal climate variation, including long term trends and climate change as well as seasonality effects, on leaf area. Through this study, we demonstrate the high benefits of digitizing herbarium specimens and reusing it for research studies to improve ecological knowledge and predictability of size-related leaf traits.

scholarly journals Comparative Immature Morphology of Brazilian Fire Ants (Hymenoptera: Formicidae:Solenopsis)

2012 ◽  
Vol 2012 ◽  
pp. 1-10 ◽  
Author(s):  
Eduardo Gonçalves Paterson Fox ◽  
Daniel Russ Solis ◽  
Mônica Lanzoni Rossi ◽  
Jacques Hubert Charles Delabie ◽  
Rodrigo Fernando de Souza ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Intraspecific Variation ◽  
Solenopsis Invicta ◽  
Morphological Traits ◽  
Species Level ◽  
Fire Ants ◽  
Fire Ant ◽  
Solenopsis Geminata ◽  
Body Dimensions ◽  
Larval Instars ◽  
Genus Level

Although common in Brazil, the biology of the fire antSolenopsis saevissima(Smith) is still poorly studied. Larval descriptions are useful to genus-level ant systematics and sometimes to species-level taxonomy. This study presents a detailed description of juveniles ofS. saevissimafrom Brazil, which were compared with Brazilian specimens ofSolenopsis invictaBuren,Solenopsis geminata(Fabricius), andSolenopsis altipunctataPitts. Different larval instars were separated by diagnostic morphological traits which were confirmed by observing moults. Reproductive larvae could be easily sorted by their distinctive body dimensions and shape. Contrary to previous reports on this species, the larvae ofS. saevissimaproved to be generally identical to those ofS. invicta, while a few specimens resembled those of other close species, such asSolenopsis megergatesTrager. Mature larvae thus presented considerable intraspecific variation in some characters recently proposed to aid fire ant species separation (morphology of head hairs).

scholarly journals Leaf traits and gas exchange in saplings of native tree species in the Central Amazon

2010 ◽  
Vol 67 (6) ◽  
pp. 624-632 ◽  
Author(s):  
Keila Rego Mendes ◽  
Ricardo Antonio Marenco
Keyword(s):  
Gas Exchange ◽  
Nitrogen Content ◽  
Leaf Area ◽  
Tree Species ◽  
Leaf Traits ◽  
Leaf Nitrogen ◽  
Dry Season ◽  
Leaf Thickness ◽  
Rainfall Regime ◽  
Leaf Nitrogen Content

Global climate models predict changes on the length of the dry season in the Amazon which may affect tree physiology. The aims of this work were to determine the effect of the rainfall regime and fraction of sky visible (FSV) at the forest understory on leaf traits and gas exchange of ten rainforest tree species in the Central Amazon, Brazil. We also examined the relationship between specific leaf area (SLA), leaf thickness (LT), and leaf nitrogen content on photosynthetic parameters. Data were collected in January (rainy season) and August (dry season) of 2008. A diurnal pattern was observed for light saturated photosynthesis (Amax) and stomatal conductance (g s), and irrespective of species, Amax was lower in the dry season. However, no effect of the rainfall regime was observed on g s nor on the photosynthetic capacity (Apot, measured at saturating [CO2]). Apot and leaf thickness increased with FSV, the converse was true for the FSV-SLA relationship. Also, a positive relationship was observed between Apot per unit leaf area and leaf nitrogen content, and between Apot per unit mass and SLA. Although the rainfall regime only slightly affects soil moisture, photosynthetic traits seem to be responsive to rainfall-related environmental factors, which eventually lead to an effect on Amax. Finally, we report that little variation in FSV seems to affect leaf physiology (Apot) and leaf anatomy (leaf thickness).

scholarly journals Effects of microhabitat on leaf traits in Digitalis grandiflora L. (Veronicaceae) growing at forest edge and interior

2014 ◽  
Vol 66 (2) ◽  
pp. 615-627
Author(s):  
J. Kołodziejek
Keyword(s):  
Soil Moisture ◽  
Leaf Area ◽  
Stomatal Density ◽  
Leaf Traits ◽  
Dry Mass ◽  
Forest Edge ◽  
Leaf Mass Per Area ◽  
Forest Interior ◽  
The Mean ◽  
Shade Leaves

The morphological, anatomical and biochemical traits of the leaves of yellow foxglove (Digitalis grandiflora Mill.) from two microhabitats, forest interior (full shade under oak canopy) and forest edge (half shade near shrubs), were studied. The microhabitats differed in the mean levels of available light, but did not differ in soil moisture. The mean level of light in the forest edge microhabitat was significantly higher than in the forest interior. Multivariate ANOVA was used to test the effects of microhabitat. Comparison of the available light with soil moisture revealed that both factors significantly influenced the morphological and anatomical variables of D. grandiflora. Leaf area, mass, leaf mass per area (LMA), surface area per unit dry mass (SLA), density and thickness varied greatly between leaves exposed to different light regimes. Leaves that developed in the shade were larger and thinner and had a greater SLA than those that developed in the half shade. In contrast, at higher light irradiances, at the forest edge, leaves tended to be thicker, with higher LMA and density. Stomatal density was higher in the half-shade leaves than in the full-shade ones. LMA was correlated with leaf area and mass and to a lesser extent with thickness and density in the forest edge microsite. The considerable variations in leaf density and thickness recorded here confirm the very high variation in cell size and amounts of structural tissue within species. The leaf plasticity index (PI) was the highest for the morphological leaf traits as compared to the anatomical and biochemical ones. The nitrogen content was higher in the ?half-shade leaves? than in the ?shade leaves?. Denser leaves corresponded to lower nitrogen (N) contents. The leaves of plants from the forest edge had more potassium (K) than leaves of plants from the forest interior on an area basis but not on a dry mass basis; the reverse was true for phosphorus.

scholarly journals Decolonizing the Anthropocene: ‘Slow Violence’ and Indigenous Resistance in Cherie Dimaline’s The Marrow Thieves

Il Tolomeo ◽  
2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Chiara Xausa
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
Global Warming ◽  
Young Adult ◽  
Species Level ◽  
Literary Representations ◽  
Indigenous Resistance ◽  
Eruptive Event ◽  
Young Adult Novel ◽  
Indigenous Theory ◽  
Slow Violence

Through a reading of Cherie Dimaline’s 2017 young adult novel The Marrow Thieves, a survival story set in a futuristic Canada destroyed by global warming, this article explores the conceptualization and reimagination of the Anthropocene in contemporary postcolonial and Indigenous theory and fiction. Firstly, I will argue that literary representations of climate change can be complicit in producing hegemonic strands of Anthropocene discourse that consider human destructiveness and vulnerability at undifferentiated species level. Secondly, I will suggest that the novel’s apocalypse reveals the processes of colonial violence and dispossession that have culminated in the eruptive event of environmental catastrophe, rather than portraying a story of universal and disembodied human threat that conceals oppression against Indigenous people.

scholarly journals Intraspecific variation in thermal tolerance differs between tropical and temperate fishes

2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
J. J. H. Nati ◽  
M. B. S. Svendsen ◽  
S. Marras ◽  
S. S. Killen ◽  
J. F. Steffensen ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
Global Warming ◽  
Intraspecific Variation ◽  
Fish Species ◽  
Thermal Tolerance ◽  
Evolutionary History ◽  
Ecological Impacts ◽  
Temperate Species ◽  
Tropical Species ◽  
Upper Thermal Tolerance

AbstractHow ectothermic animals will cope with global warming is a critical determinant of the ecological impacts of climate change. There has been extensive study of upper thermal tolerance limits among fish species but how intraspecific variation in tolerance may be affected by habitat characteristics and evolutionary history has not been considered. Intraspecific variation is a primary determinant of species vulnerability to climate change, with implications for global patterns of impacts of ongoing warming. Using published critical thermal maximum (CTmax) data on 203 fish species, we found that intraspecific variation in upper thermal tolerance varies according to a species’ latitude and evolutionary history. Overall, tropical species show a lower intraspecific variation in thermal tolerance than temperate species. Notably, freshwater tropical species have a lower variation in tolerance than freshwater temperate species, which implies increased vulnerability to impacts of thermal stress. The extent of variation in CTmax among fish species has a strong phylogenetic signal, which may indicate a constraint on evolvability to rising temperatures in tropical fishes. That is, in addition to living closer to their upper thermal limits, tropical species may have higher sensitivity and lower adaptability to global warming compared to temperate counterparts. This is evidence that freshwater tropical fish communities, worldwide, are especially vulnerable to ongoing climate change.

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