Coordinated variation in leaf and root traits across multiple spatial scales in Chinese semi-arid and arid ecosystems

The New Phytologist
Guofang LiuMing Dong

Abstract

• Variation in plant functional traits is the product of evolutionary and environmental drivers operating at different scales. Little is known about whether, or how, this variation is coordinated between aboveground and belowground organs across and within spatial scales. • We address these questions using a hierarchically designed dataset of pairwise leaf and root traits related to carbon and nutrient economy of 64 species belonging to 14 plant communities in northern Chinese semi-arid and arid regions. • While both root and leaf traits showed most of their variance among (individuals and) species within communities, leaf trait variance tended to be relatively higher at coarser spatial scales than root trait variance. While leaf nitrogen (N) per area to root N per length ratio increased and specific leaf area to specific root length and leaf [N] to root [N] ratios decreased from semi-arid to arid environments owing to climatic/edaphic shifts, the matching pairs showed a strong pattern of positive correlation that was upheld across spatial scales and geographic areas. • Thus, trade-offs in plant resource investment across organs within individual vascular plants are constrained within a rather narrow range of variation. A new c...Continue Reading

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Citations

Apr 23, 2015·Trends in Ecology & Evolution·Sarah E Hobbie
Mar 1, 2017·The New Phytologist·Colleen M IversenCyrille Violle
Apr 19, 2017·Ecology·Lorena Gómez-AparicioLuis V García
Sep 13, 2017·The New Phytologist·Joana BergmannMatthias C Rillig
May 14, 2016·The New Phytologist·Monique WeemstraFrank J Sterck
Jul 30, 2020·Ecology and Evolution·Yan-Ming GongGuang-Hui Lv
Apr 23, 2016·Biological Reviews of the Cambridge Philosophical Society·Jennifer L FunkJustin Wright
Oct 12, 2017·Frontiers in Plant Science·Yanpei GuoZhiyao Tang
May 29, 2020·The New Phytologist·Zhihui WangPhilip A Townsend
Apr 3, 2020·American Journal of Botany·Julia I BurtonKlaus J Puettmann
Jul 1, 2020·Frontiers in Plant Science·Xiaoping ChenDongliang Cheng
Nov 19, 2015·Frontiers in Plant Science·Yu-Kun HuMing Dong

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