Physiological Responses of Robinia pseudoacacia and Quercus acutissima Seedlings to Repeated Drought-Rewatering Under Different Planting Methods

Changing precipitation patterns have aggravated the existing uneven water distribution, leading to the alternation of drought and rewatering. Based on this variation, we studied species, namely, Robinia pseudoacacia and Quercus acutissima, with different root forms and water regulation strategy to determine physiological responses to repeated drought-rewatering under different planting methods. Growth, physiological, and hydraulic traits were measured using pure and mixed planting seedlings that were subjected to drought, repeated drought-rewatering (i.e., treatments), and well-irrigated seedlings (i.e., control). Drought had negative effects on plant functional traits, such as significantly decreased xylem water potential (Ψmd), net photosynthetic rate (AP), and then height and basal diameter growth were slowed down, while plant species could form stress imprint and adopt compensatory mechanism after repeated drought-rewatering. Mixed planting of the two tree species prolonged the desiccation time during drought, slowed down Ψmd and AP decreasing, and after rewatering, plant functional traits could recover faster than pure planting. Our results demonstrate that repeated drought-rewatering could make plant species form stress imprint and adopt compensatory mechanism, while mixed planting could weaken the inhibition of drought and finally improve the overall drought resistance; this mechanism may provide a theoretical basis for afforestation and vegetation restoration in the warm temperate zone under rising uneven spatiotemporal water distribution.

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A Web-Based Software Platform for Restoration-Oriented Species Selection Based on Plant Functional Traits

Frontiers in Ecology and Evolution ◽

10.3389/fevo.2021.570454 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 9 ◽

Author(s):

Chen Wang ◽

Shuguang Jian ◽

Hai Ren ◽

Junhua Yan ◽

Nan Liu

Keyword(s):

Plant Species ◽

Functional Traits ◽

Selection Process ◽

Plant Functional Traits ◽

Species Selection ◽

Software Platform ◽

Web Based ◽

Successful Case ◽

The Future ◽

Degraded Ecosystems

Plant functional traits are fundamental to the understanding of plant adaptations and distributions. Recently, scientists proposed a trait-based species selection theory to support the selection of suitable plant species to restore the degraded ecosystems, to prevent the invasive exotic species and to manage the sustainable ecosystems. Based on this theory, in a previous study, we developed a species screening model and successfully applied it to a project where plant species were selected for restoring a tropical coral island. However, during this process we learned that a software platform is necessary to automate the selection process because it can flexible to assist users. Here, we developed a generalized software platform called the “Restoration Plant Species Selection (RPSS) Platform.” This flexible software is designed to assist users in selecting plant species for particular purposes (e.g., restore the degraded ecosystems and others). It is written in R language and integrated with external R packages, including the packages that computing similarity indexes, providing graphic outputs, and offering web functions. The software has a web-based graphical user interface that allows users to execute required functions via checkboxes and buttons. The platform has cross-platform functionality, which means that it can run on all common operating systems (e.g., Windows, Linux, macOS, and others). We also illustrate a successful case study in which the software platform was used to select suitable plant species for restoration purpose. The objective of this paper is to introduce the newly developed software platform RPSS and to provide useful guidances on using it for various applications. At this step, we also realized that the software platform should be constantly updated (e.g., add new features) in the future. Based on the existing successful application and the possible updates, we believe that our RPSS software platform will have broader applications in the future.

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Growth and physiological responses of subalpine forbs to nitrogen and soil moisture: investigating the potential roles of plant functional traits

Plant Ecology ◽

10.1007/s11258-018-0848-9 ◽

2018 ◽

Vol 219 (8) ◽

pp. 941-956

Author(s):

Anthony H. Slominski ◽

Zac German ◽

Laura A. Burkle

Keyword(s):

Soil Moisture ◽

Functional Traits ◽

Physiological Responses ◽

Plant Functional Traits

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Plant functional traits of woody plant species at different successional stages of encroachment in an Mpumalanga savannah

South African Journal of Botany ◽

10.1016/j.sajb.2018.02.187 ◽

2018 ◽

Vol 115 ◽

pp. 327-328

Author(s):

M.D. Raseala ◽

M. Botha ◽

P.C. Le Roux ◽

M. Greve

Keyword(s):

Plant Species ◽

Functional Traits ◽

Woody Plant ◽

Plant Functional Traits ◽

Woody Plant Species ◽

Successional Stages

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Soil Disturbance as a Grassland Restoration Measure—Effects on Plant Species Composition and Plant Functional Traits

PLoS ONE ◽

10.1371/journal.pone.0123698 ◽

2015 ◽

Vol 10 (4) ◽

pp. e0123698 ◽

Cited By ~ 5

Author(s):

Tim Schnoor ◽

Hans Henrik Bruun ◽

Pål Axel Olsson

Keyword(s):

Species Composition ◽

Plant Species ◽

Functional Traits ◽

Soil Disturbance ◽

Plant Functional Traits ◽

Grassland Restoration ◽

Plant Species Composition ◽

Restoration Measure

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Plant Functional Traits Predict the Drought Response of Native California Plant Species

International Journal of Plant Sciences ◽

10.1086/706451 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 181 (2) ◽

pp. 256-265 ◽

Cited By ~ 1

Author(s):

Ariel K. Pezner ◽

Alexandria L. Pivovaroff ◽

Wu Sun ◽

M. Rasoul Sharifi ◽

Philip W. Rundel ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Plant Species ◽

Functional Traits ◽

Plant Functional Traits ◽

Drought Response

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Competition and Plant Trait Plasticity of Invasive (Wedelia trilobata) and Native Species (Wedelia chinensis, WC) under Nitrogen Enrichment and Flooding Condition

Water ◽

10.3390/w13233472 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 13 (23) ◽

pp. 3472

Author(s):

Ahmad Azeem ◽

Mai Wenxuan ◽

Tian Changyan ◽

Qaiser Javed ◽

Adeel Abbas

Keyword(s):

Plant Species ◽

Functional Traits ◽

Invasive Plant ◽

Plant Functional Traits ◽

Environmental Stability ◽

Physiological Traits ◽

Nitrogen Enrichment ◽

Invasive Plant Species ◽

Wedelia Trilobata ◽

Additional Nitrogen

Nitrogen (N) is the important nutrition that regulatory plant functioning and environmental stability of invasive plant species under flooding (F) conditions. Little information clarifies the role of nitrogen enrichment and flooding on the invasive plant functional traits and competition with native competitors. Plant functional traits play an essential role in the successful growth of plants under different environmental conditions. Therefore, greenhouse pots experiment was conducted with invasive plant species (Wedelia trilobata, WT), and its native competitor (Wedelia chinensis, WC) in monoculture and cocultivation culture, along with flooding and nitrogen enrichment conditions. Considering the impact of flooding (F) and nitrogen (N) on an individual basis, the plant physiological traits of WC were nonsignificant compared to that of WT. However, in the combination of flooding × additional nitrogen (F.N, F.2N), plant physiological traits of WT were comparatively higher than those of WC, especially in cocultivation. In flooding × additional nitrogen (F.N and F.2N), better phenotypic plasticity at different plant traits makes WT more dominant in resource competition over WC. In conclusion, improved functional traits of WT under nitrogen enrichment and flooding conditions enhanced its competitiveness over native competitors.

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