Variation and adaptation of leaf water content among species, communities, and biomes
Leaf water content (LWC) is essential for the physiological activities in plants, but its spatial variation and the underlying mechanisms in natural plant communities are unclear. In this study, we measured the LWC of 5641 plant species from 72 natural communities in China, covering most terrestrial...
| Main Authors: | , , , , |
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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IOP Publishing
2021-01-01
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| Series: | Environmental Research Letters |
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| Online Access: | https://doi.org/10.1088/1748-9326/ac38da |
| _version_ | 1797747466088480768 |
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| author | Ruomeng Wang Nianpeng He Shenggong Li Li Xu Mingxu Li |
| author_facet | Ruomeng Wang Nianpeng He Shenggong Li Li Xu Mingxu Li |
| author_sort | Ruomeng Wang |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Leaf water content (LWC) is essential for the physiological activities in plants, but its spatial variation and the underlying mechanisms in natural plant communities are unclear. In this study, we measured the LWC of 5641 plant species from 72 natural communities in China, covering most terrestrial ecosystems, to answer these questions. Our results showed that LWC, on average, was 0.690 g g ^–1 , and was significantly higher in forests and deserts than in grasslands. LWC was significantly different among different plant life forms, and ranked on averages in the following order: herbs > shrubs > trees. Interestingly, LWC decreased with increasing humidity and increased in dry environments. Furthermore, the variations of LWC in plant communities were higher in arid areas and those species with lower LWC in a plant community were more sensitive to changing environments. These results demonstrated the adaptations of plants to water regime in their habitats. Although, phylogeny has no significant effect on LWC, plant species both in forests and grasslands evolve toward higher LWC. Variations of LWC from species to community to biome represent the cost-effective strategy of plants, where plant species in drier environment require higher input to keep higher LWC to balance water availability and heat regulation. This systematic investigation fills the gaps on how LWC varies spatially and clarifies the different adaptation mechanisms regulating LWC across scales. |
| first_indexed | 2024-03-12T15:51:02Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-8947e52e625b44b49daee2b45bb66bd8 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 1748-9326 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-03-12T15:51:02Z |
| publishDate | 2021-01-01 |
| publisher | IOP Publishing |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Environmental Research Letters |
| spelling | doaj.art-8947e52e625b44b49daee2b45bb66bd82023-08-09T15:08:35ZengIOP PublishingEnvironmental Research Letters1748-93262021-01-01161212403810.1088/1748-9326/ac38daVariation and adaptation of leaf water content among species, communities, and biomesRuomeng Wang0https://orcid.org/0000-0001-9770-4941Nianpeng He1Shenggong Li2Li Xu3Mingxu Li4National Ecosystem Science Data Center, Key Laboratory of Ecosystem Network Observation and Modeling, Institute of Geographic Sciences and Natural Resources Research, Chinese Academy of Sciences , Beijing 100101, People’s Republic of China; College of Resources and Environment, University of Chinese Academy of Sciences , Beijing 100190, People’s Republic of ChinaNational Ecosystem Science Data Center, Key Laboratory of Ecosystem Network Observation and Modeling, Institute of Geographic Sciences and Natural Resources Research, Chinese Academy of Sciences , Beijing 100101, People’s Republic of China; College of Resources and Environment, University of Chinese Academy of Sciences , Beijing 100190, People’s Republic of China; Key Laboratory of Vegetation Ecology, Ministry of Education , Changchun 130024, People’s Republic of ChinaNational Ecosystem Science Data Center, Key Laboratory of Ecosystem Network Observation and Modeling, Institute of Geographic Sciences and Natural Resources Research, Chinese Academy of Sciences , Beijing 100101, People’s Republic of China; College of Resources and Environment, University of Chinese Academy of Sciences , Beijing 100190, People’s Republic of ChinaNational Ecosystem Science Data Center, Key Laboratory of Ecosystem Network Observation and Modeling, Institute of Geographic Sciences and Natural Resources Research, Chinese Academy of Sciences , Beijing 100101, People’s Republic of ChinaNational Ecosystem Science Data Center, Key Laboratory of Ecosystem Network Observation and Modeling, Institute of Geographic Sciences and Natural Resources Research, Chinese Academy of Sciences , Beijing 100101, People’s Republic of ChinaLeaf water content (LWC) is essential for the physiological activities in plants, but its spatial variation and the underlying mechanisms in natural plant communities are unclear. In this study, we measured the LWC of 5641 plant species from 72 natural communities in China, covering most terrestrial ecosystems, to answer these questions. Our results showed that LWC, on average, was 0.690 g g ^–1 , and was significantly higher in forests and deserts than in grasslands. LWC was significantly different among different plant life forms, and ranked on averages in the following order: herbs > shrubs > trees. Interestingly, LWC decreased with increasing humidity and increased in dry environments. Furthermore, the variations of LWC in plant communities were higher in arid areas and those species with lower LWC in a plant community were more sensitive to changing environments. These results demonstrated the adaptations of plants to water regime in their habitats. Although, phylogeny has no significant effect on LWC, plant species both in forests and grasslands evolve toward higher LWC. Variations of LWC from species to community to biome represent the cost-effective strategy of plants, where plant species in drier environment require higher input to keep higher LWC to balance water availability and heat regulation. This systematic investigation fills the gaps on how LWC varies spatially and clarifies the different adaptation mechanisms regulating LWC across scales.https://doi.org/10.1088/1748-9326/ac38daleaf water contentplant traitsplant communitymacro-ecologystrategyadaptation |
| spellingShingle | Ruomeng Wang Nianpeng He Shenggong Li Li Xu Mingxu Li Variation and adaptation of leaf water content among species, communities, and biomes Environmental Research Letters leaf water content plant traits plant community macro-ecology strategy adaptation |
| title | Variation and adaptation of leaf water content among species, communities, and biomes |
| title_full | Variation and adaptation of leaf water content among species, communities, and biomes |
| title_fullStr | Variation and adaptation of leaf water content among species, communities, and biomes |
| title_full_unstemmed | Variation and adaptation of leaf water content among species, communities, and biomes |
| title_short | Variation and adaptation of leaf water content among species, communities, and biomes |
| title_sort | variation and adaptation of leaf water content among species communities and biomes |
| topic | leaf water content plant traits plant community macro-ecology strategy adaptation |
| url | https://doi.org/10.1088/1748-9326/ac38da |
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