Effectiveness of modern leaf analysis tools for the morpho‐ecological study of plants: the case of Primula albenensis

Abstract

Scientific and technological progress has led to the creation of analysis tools that have revolutionized traditional studies in morphology and plant ecology. Recently developed methods and tools which, on the basis of leaf samples, allow for geometric morphometric analyses and the evaluation of functional strategies are good examples. These methods, still little used, have never been applied on leaf samples to simultaneously obtain information on their morphometry and the ecology of the plants. This article discusses the effectiveness of modern leaf analysis tools for geometric morphometrics (outline analysis) and studies of functional strategies based on the competitor‐stress tolerator‐ruderal (CSR) scheme, using a study of a steno‐endemic plant of the Alps, Primula albenensis Banfi et Ferl. as an example. These aspects were analyzed using leaf samples collected in the only two areas where this species grows. CSR analyses revealed that P. albenensis is not a stress‐tolerant species (C:S:R = 37:1:62), as previously thought. Moreover, no significant intraspecific differences in functional strategy were revealed. Instead, outline analysis highlighted a significant difference (p < 0.001) between leaves collected from the two sampling areas. The results of this study and others reported in the literature therefore suggest that these modern methods of leaf analysis are cheap, effective and relatively simple to perform. Furthermore, researchers are able to carry out geometric morphometric and CSR analysis using the same samples of leaves in order to maximize the information content provided by the analysis of a plant material which may not be easily available.

Intraspecific variability of leaf traits and functional strategy of Himantoglossum adriaticum H. Baumann

“…Moreover, and consistently to other previous studies (e.g. May et al 2017;Giupponi and Giorgi 2019), this research confirms that all components (Competitive, Stress tolerant and Ruderal component) of the CSR functional strategy can vary significantly among individuals of the same species. In this regard, a further step towards the comprehension of processes underlying patterns of trait variation should account for regeneration traits of H. adriaticum.…”

“…The scheme has been so far adopted at different levels of organization, worldwide (e.g. Yildirim et al 2012;Astuti et al 2019;Giupponi and Giorgi 2019;Nyakunga et al 2018), and values on CSR strategy are currently available for several species (Cerabolini et al 2010;Pierce et al 2017). In most trait databases, species are described by mean trait values, regardless of environmental or genetic context (Albert et al 2010), mostly due to the search for general patterns (Albert et al 2011).…”

Phytochemical and Ecological Analysis of Two Varieties of Hemp (Cannabis sativa L.) Grown in a Mountain Environment of Italian Alps

“…Particularly, Finola has been proven as more stress-tolerant variety in comparison with Futura 75. These data contribute to fill the lack of studies of intraspecific variation of CSR strategy; in fact, until now, only May et al (2017), Giupponi and Giorgi 2019a; Giupponi and Giorgi et al, 2019b, and Giupponi et al, 2017; Giupponi et al, 2019 have studied this intraspecific variation in Arabidopsis thaliana , Linaria tonzigii , and Fagopyrum tataricum , respectively. Finola is a Finnish short-cycle variety, considered as a self-flourishing for its ability to bloom in about 3 months and with a high germinability (Baldini et al, 2018).…”

Digital morphometrics: Application of MorphoLeaf in shape visualization and species delimitation, using Cucurbitaceae leaves as a model

“…Furthermore, sampling multiple populations ensures that all factors and characters are taken into consideration to provide a full picture of the variation within a species when tracking evolution within a plant group or performing other bioinformatic work. The ease of use and efficiency of digital morphometrics should encourage botanists to collect a comprehensive pool of data, thus allowing them to draw more accurate inferences, as they seek to answer their research questions (Luca and Annamaria, 2019 ).…”