Responses of economic and anatomical leaf traits to soil fertility factors in eight coexisting broadleaf species in temperate forests

The multidimensionality of leaf traits allows plants to have diverse survival strategies to adapt to complex living environments. Whether the anatomical traits of leaves are associated with leaf economic traits and which group of traits are more strongly correlated with soil fertility factors remain...

Full description

Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Mingyue Jin, Guangze Jin, Qingxi Guo, Zhili Liu
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Frontiers Media S.A. 2023-07-01
Series:Frontiers in Forests and Global Change
Subjects:
Online Access:https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/ffgc.2023.1232333/full
_version_ 1797777882393608192
author Mingyue Jin
Guangze Jin
Qingxi Guo
Zhili Liu
author_facet Mingyue Jin
Guangze Jin
Qingxi Guo
Zhili Liu
author_sort Mingyue Jin
collection DOAJ
description The multidimensionality of leaf traits allows plants to have diverse survival strategies to adapt to complex living environments. Whether the anatomical traits of leaves are associated with leaf economic traits and which group of traits are more strongly correlated with soil fertility factors remains unclear. We measured four leaf economic traits, four anatomical traits, and five soil fertility factors of eight coexisting broadleaf species distributed in mixed broadleaved-Korean pine (Pinus koraiensis) forests located in Northeast China. Results show a strong interdependence between economic and anatomical traits (p < 0.05). The range of variation between economic and anatomical traits were almost equal, but the causes of variation were different. Specific leaf area was positively correlated with the abaxial epidermis, negatively correlated with the ratio of spongy tissue to leaf thickness (ST/LT), and not correlated with adaxial epidermis. Leaf dry matter content was negatively correlated with the abaxial epidermis and adaxial epidermis, positively correlated with ST/LT. Specific leaf area, palisade tissue, and ST/LT showed stronger correlation with soil fertility factors than other traits. Soil fertility factors dominating trait variation were dependent upon the trait. Our results suggest anatomical traits can be considered in economic trait dimension. The coupled relationship between anatomical and economic traits is potentially a cost-effective adaptation strategy for species to improve efficiency in resource utilization. Our results provide evidence for the complex soil-trait relationship and suggest that future studies should emphasize the role of anatomic traits in predicting soil fertility changes.
first_indexed 2024-03-12T23:09:56Z
format Article
id doaj.art-bf5b820d465d4421bd84e2e727be4d11
institution Directory Open Access Journal
issn 2624-893X
language English
last_indexed 2024-03-12T23:09:56Z
publishDate 2023-07-01
publisher Frontiers Media S.A.
record_format Article
series Frontiers in Forests and Global Change
spelling doaj.art-bf5b820d465d4421bd84e2e727be4d112023-07-18T08:03:58ZengFrontiers Media S.A.Frontiers in Forests and Global Change2624-893X2023-07-01610.3389/ffgc.2023.12323331232333Responses of economic and anatomical leaf traits to soil fertility factors in eight coexisting broadleaf species in temperate forestsMingyue JinGuangze JinQingxi GuoZhili LiuThe multidimensionality of leaf traits allows plants to have diverse survival strategies to adapt to complex living environments. Whether the anatomical traits of leaves are associated with leaf economic traits and which group of traits are more strongly correlated with soil fertility factors remains unclear. We measured four leaf economic traits, four anatomical traits, and five soil fertility factors of eight coexisting broadleaf species distributed in mixed broadleaved-Korean pine (Pinus koraiensis) forests located in Northeast China. Results show a strong interdependence between economic and anatomical traits (p < 0.05). The range of variation between economic and anatomical traits were almost equal, but the causes of variation were different. Specific leaf area was positively correlated with the abaxial epidermis, negatively correlated with the ratio of spongy tissue to leaf thickness (ST/LT), and not correlated with adaxial epidermis. Leaf dry matter content was negatively correlated with the abaxial epidermis and adaxial epidermis, positively correlated with ST/LT. Specific leaf area, palisade tissue, and ST/LT showed stronger correlation with soil fertility factors than other traits. Soil fertility factors dominating trait variation were dependent upon the trait. Our results suggest anatomical traits can be considered in economic trait dimension. The coupled relationship between anatomical and economic traits is potentially a cost-effective adaptation strategy for species to improve efficiency in resource utilization. Our results provide evidence for the complex soil-trait relationship and suggest that future studies should emphasize the role of anatomic traits in predicting soil fertility changes.https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/ffgc.2023.1232333/fullleaf trait multidimensionalityeconomic traitsanatomical traitssoil fertility factorsplant adaptive strategy
spellingShingle Mingyue Jin
Guangze Jin
Qingxi Guo
Zhili Liu
Responses of economic and anatomical leaf traits to soil fertility factors in eight coexisting broadleaf species in temperate forests
Frontiers in Forests and Global Change
leaf trait multidimensionality
economic traits
anatomical traits
soil fertility factors
plant adaptive strategy
title Responses of economic and anatomical leaf traits to soil fertility factors in eight coexisting broadleaf species in temperate forests
title_full Responses of economic and anatomical leaf traits to soil fertility factors in eight coexisting broadleaf species in temperate forests
title_fullStr Responses of economic and anatomical leaf traits to soil fertility factors in eight coexisting broadleaf species in temperate forests
title_full_unstemmed Responses of economic and anatomical leaf traits to soil fertility factors in eight coexisting broadleaf species in temperate forests
title_short Responses of economic and anatomical leaf traits to soil fertility factors in eight coexisting broadleaf species in temperate forests
title_sort responses of economic and anatomical leaf traits to soil fertility factors in eight coexisting broadleaf species in temperate forests
topic leaf trait multidimensionality
economic traits
anatomical traits
soil fertility factors
plant adaptive strategy
url https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/ffgc.2023.1232333/full
work_keys_str_mv AT mingyuejin responsesofeconomicandanatomicalleaftraitstosoilfertilityfactorsineightcoexistingbroadleafspeciesintemperateforests
AT guangzejin responsesofeconomicandanatomicalleaftraitstosoilfertilityfactorsineightcoexistingbroadleafspeciesintemperateforests
AT qingxiguo responsesofeconomicandanatomicalleaftraitstosoilfertilityfactorsineightcoexistingbroadleafspeciesintemperateforests
AT zhililiu responsesofeconomicandanatomicalleaftraitstosoilfertilityfactorsineightcoexistingbroadleafspeciesintemperateforests