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Plant function and evolutionary biology
RESEARCH ARTICLE (Open Access)

Variations in leaf and stem traits across two elevations in subtropical forests

Liwei Zhu https://orcid.org/0000-0001-5191-2868 A B C , Yaxing Zhang A , Huiying Ye A , Yanqiong Li A , Weiting Hu A , Jie Du A and Ping Zhao A B C *
+ Author Affiliations
- Author Affiliations

A Key Laboratory of Vegetation Restoration and Management of Degraded Ecosystems, South China Botanical Garden, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Guangzhou 510650, China.

B Center of Plant Ecology, Core Botanical Gardens, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Guangzhou 510650, China.

C Guangdong Provincial Key Laboratory of Applied Botany, South China Botanical Garden, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Guangzhou 510650, China.

* Correspondence to: zhaoping@scib.ac.cn

Handling Editor: Wieland Fricke

Functional Plant Biology 49(4) 319-332 https://doi.org/10.1071/FP21220
Submitted: 26 July 2021  Accepted: 18 January 2022   Published: 15 February 2022

© 2022 The Author(s) (or their employer(s)). Published by CSIRO Publishing. This is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License (CC BY-NC-ND)

Abstract

Understanding the variations in plant traits across elevations may provide valuable insights into the species structure and function of forests and their responses to climate change. To explore the patterns of trait variation across elevations, we analysed 14 leaf and stem traits associated with resource acquisition and stress tolerance in Schima superba Gardner & Champion, Castanopsis chinensis (Sprengel) Hance, and Pinus massoniana Lambert trees at two elevations in a subtropical forest in southern China. Wood density increased, whereas crown width, leaf water potential at 0700 hours (ΨL-0700), and leaf δ18O decreased in high-elevation plants. Vessel diameter, daily maximum sap flux density, leaf δ13C, and leaf C and N concentrations per unit mass were comparable across elevations. We found species-specific variations in specific leaf area, midday leaf water potential, and leaf P concentration across elevations. Decreasing crown width with increasing elevation was associated with decreasing leaf δ18O and ΨL-0700, suggesting that higher stomatal conductance may moderate the loss of carbon assimilation. We elucidated the adaptive strategies of plants in response to environmental change, and showed that physiological traits varied in coordination with structural traits. Future studies incorporating multi-dimensional trait analyses can improve our understanding of the responses of forest ecosystems to climate change and global warming.

Keywords: elevational gradient, leaf δ13C, leaf δ18O, leaf water potential, sap flux density, southern China, specific leaf area, wood density.


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