Soil and climatic drivers of plant SLA (specific leaf area)

Gong, Hede; Gao, Jie

doi:10.1016/j.gecco.2019.e00696

Cited by 57 publications

(48 citation statements)

References 14 publications

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“…However, SLA is a rather complex trait, especially in evergreens (Lusk et al., 2008). It integrates the trade‐off between reduction costs and prolongation of leaf life span in resource‐limited environments determined by multiple factors, including climate (precipitation, drought or minimum temperatures), light availability or soil characteristics (Gong & Gao, 2019; González‐Zurdo et al., 2016; Wright et al., 2004). Therefore, this mismatch (the unexpected negative correlation between SLA and LA) may reflect a complex response to different factors or scales involving other associated traits that we did not measured (e.g.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Phenotypes of Pinus sylvestris are more coordinated under local harsher conditions across Europe

et al. 2021

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Plant species that grow across environmental gradients show a range of trait expression, but traits do not vary independently. In fact, phenotypes are integrated expressions of multiple traits that covary due to trade‐offs among functions and processes. Understanding trait covariation structures will ultimately help with predicting species' responses to change and developing management actions. We measured variation and covariation (a proxy of phenotypic integration) among functional traits of Pinus sylvestris from paired populations across its European distribution. Populations within a pair were close enough to be in gene flow contact but located in contrasting environmental conditions across a local gradient. Measured traits represented three axes of variation (groups of traits) related to a tree's competitive ability and the trade‐off between resource acquisition and conservation, namely plant size measures and stem and foliar traits. Results revealed important intra‐ and inter‐population trait variability. In particular, at the population level, trait means shifted across the climatic gradient mainly described by mean annual temperature. Moreover, we found a higher degree of trait covariation in populations under harsher environments (i.e. lower environmental suitability for the species). This pattern was consistent within population pairs, suggesting that higher trait covariation may be adaptive, being more coordinated in sites with harsher conditions. At larger spatial scales, we found a less conclusive pattern with a trend of increasing covariation at the northern edge of the species distribution. This result suggests that at larger scales different processes may be involved in the trade‐off between the adaptive value of phenotypic covariation versus its constraints on trait combinations that may limit plant's response capability. Synthesis. Trait covariation varies at different spatial scales, increasing under harsher conditions, and the robustness and repeatability of this pattern suggests its adaptive role for the species' responses to different environments.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Phenotypes of Pinus sylvestris are more coordinated under local harsher conditions across Europe

et al. 2021

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“…Individuals from Serra da Bocaina and Serra Sul showed associations with lower SLA and lower concentration of several micro‐ and macronutrients, suggesting that increasing leaf thickness in these individuals avoids dissection or better preserves scarce nutrients (Costa‐Saura, Martínez‐Vilalta, Trabucco, Spano, & Mereu, 2016)⁠. In contrast, SLA‐associations in D. apurensis did not separate Canga highlands, showing that the influence of climatic variation on SLA is different across species (Gong & Gao, 2019; Liu et al., 2017)⁠. In D. apurensis , different genotype associations with leaf micro and macronutrients separated highlands (Figure 4d), suggesting different physiological requirements or nutrient availability at each site.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Combining genotype, phenotype, and environmental data to delineate site‐adjusted provenance strategies for ecological restoration

Carvalho

Forester

Mitre

et al. 2020

Molecular Ecology Resources

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Despite the importance of climate‐adjusted provenancing to mitigate the effects of environmental change, climatic considerations alone are insufficient when restoring highly degraded sites. Here we propose a comprehensive landscape genomic approach to assist the restoration of moderately disturbed and highly degraded sites. To illustrate it we employ genomic data sets comprising thousands of single nucleotide polymorphisms from two plant species suitable for the restoration of iron‐rich Amazonian Savannas. We first use a subset of neutral loci to assess genetic structure and determine the genetic neighbourhood size. We then identify genotype‐phenotype‐environment associations, map adaptive genetic variation, and predict adaptive genotypes for restoration sites. Whereas local provenances were found optimal to restore a moderately disturbed site, a mixture of genotypes seemed the most promising strategy to recover a highly degraded mining site. We discuss how our results can help define site‐adjusted provenancing strategies, and argue that our methods can be more broadly applied to assist other restoration initiatives.

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“…Theories of how climate dominates plant distribution have been widely tested. Climatic factors can directly influence functional traits (Bruelheide et al., 2018; Gong & Gao, 2019; Reich et al., 2014; Wright et al., 2017) related to the physiological tolerance of plants, which affect their growth (Babst et al., 2019), population size, and dynamics (Morris et al., 2020). Among different climatic factors, climate variability (e.g., temperature seasonality and isothermality) can increase plants’ phenotypic plasticity, and thus improve species persistence under climate change and widen their range of existence (Molina‐Montenegro & Naya, 2012).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Environmental drivers of plant distributions at global and regional scales

Huang

Chen

Miao

et al. 2021

Global Ecol. Biogeogr.

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Aim How environmental factors drive plant distribution across the globe is one of the most fundamental questions in ecology. Nevertheless, the relative importance of different environmental factors in driving plant distributions across spatial scales and among plant groups is not clear. This study aims to disentangle how plant–environment relationships vary with latitude and among plant taxa. Location Global. Time period Present day. Main taxa Plant taxa including angiosperms, gymnosperms, pteridophytes and bryophytes. Methods We obtained global distribution occurrence data of mass plant groups (625 families, 6,221 genera, and 54,101 species) from the Global Biodiversity Information Facility (GBIF) database. We used random forest method to quantify the relative effects of 15 environmental factors (including climate, soil and topography) on plant distributions at global and regional scales (divided into different latitude zones). We also used phylogenetic generalized least squares (PGLS) models to investigate the relationships between environmental variables and geographical range size, latitudinal range and limits of plants at the global scale. Results Our analyses revealed the primacy of the effects of climatic variability (temperature seasonality and isothermality) on plant distribution at the global scale. The relative contributions of temperature seasonality and isothermality peaked in tropical areas, whereas solar radiation and annual mean temperature had stronger influence in high‐latitude areas. Wide‐range plant groups tended to occur in areas with higher temperature variability (isothermality and temperature seasonality) and flatter terrain (low slope). Both climate variability and extreme influenced geographical range size, latitudinal range and limits of plants. Main conclusions Our study highlights the significance of climate variability for global plant distributions. Environmental effects upon plant distributions vary across latitudes. The findings imply that environmental factors affecting plant distributions change with geographical scales, suggesting that different geographical and ecological processes should be integrated to explain multi‐scale distribution patterns.

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Soil and climatic drivers of plant SLA (specific leaf area)

Cited by 57 publications

References 14 publications

Phenotypes of Pinus sylvestris are more coordinated under local harsher conditions across Europe

Phenotypes of Pinus sylvestris are more coordinated under local harsher conditions across Europe

Combining genotype, phenotype, and environmental data to delineate site‐adjusted provenance strategies for ecological restoration

Environmental drivers of plant distributions at global and regional scales

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