The relative contribution of intraspecific variation and species turnover to the community-level foliar stoichiometric characteristics in different soil moisture and salinity habitats

Abstract

Background Trait-based approaches have been used to demonstrate the responses of plant functional traits to environmental change may manifest both among- and/or within-species. However, how community-level foliar stoichiometric characteristic variations respond to aridity and salinity is still not well-known. Methods We calculated community weighted means (CWMs) and non-weighted means (CMs) of foliar C, N, and P concentrations (and their ratios) in a dryland plant community respond to high (HSW) and low soil moisture and salinity (LSW). Based on a sum of squares decomposition method, we determined the relative contributions of intraspecific variation and species turnover in both HSW and LSW habitats. Results The CWMs of foliar C, C:N and C:P, and CM of N in the HSW habitat were significantly greater than those in the LSW habitat. The trait variations in two habitats were mainly driven by intraspecific variation, and its contribution to trait variation mostly declined with the decrease of soil moisture and salinity. The CWMs of foliar C-related stoichiometric characteristics were mainly dominated by species turnover in both habitats. Moreover, the contribution of species turnover to C and C:P variations showed an increasing trend in the LSW habitat. For CWMs, negative covariations between intraspecific variation and turnover occurred in HSW and positive covariations (except N:P) occurred in LSW; however, CMs were generally positively correlated in both habitats. Conclusions The intraspecific variation declined as drought stress intensified, which indicates that the adaptability of desert plants declined when the stress changed from salinity to aridity. The total variation of C-related traits in both habitats were mainly dominated by species turnover. These findings highlight the importance of intraspecific variation in driving desert plant response of community functional composition to salt stress, and the joint role of intraspecific variation and species turnover in resisting drought stress.

Experimentally decomposing phytoplankton community change into ecological and evolutionary contributions

“…Last, metrics based on variance partitioning (VP) after Lepš (Lepš et al, 2011) require measurements of species frequencies and trait values (Table 1) and are widely used in terrestrial plant systems (e.g. Lajoie & Vellend, 2015, 2018Tusifujiang et al, 2021). The above-mentioned metrics are often applied on traits that can be measured for single individuals; however, this is not easily applicable to microscopic organisms, as for example phytoplankton.…”

Interspecific Integration of Chemical Traits in Desert Plant Leaves with Variations in Soil Water and Salinity Habitats

“…The Ebinur Lake Wetland National Nature Reserve (44 • 30 -45 • 09 N, 82 • 36 -83 • 50 E) is located in northwest Jinghe County, Bortala Mongolian Autonomous Prefecture, Xinjiang, China, in the lowest depression in the southwest margin of Junggar Basin and the water and salt collection center [41]. The climate is hot and dry throughout the year and is influenced by the normal temperate continent's dry climate.…”

“…The common species in both habitats are Arbor Populus euphratica, Haloxylon ammodendron, Nitraria sibirica, and Apocynum venetum. The herbaceous plants are Phragmites australis, Suaeda microphylla, Halimodendron halodendron, Suaeda salsa, Reaumuria soongorica, Alhagi sparsifolia, Suaeda glauca, and Karelinia capsica [41].…”

“…This may be due to the reduced mobility of K + under drought and saline habitats in low soil water-salinity habitats, where the efficiency of K + diminishes with lowering soil water content [62]. Soil water content and salinity have been established in earlier studies to be important environmental variables affecting desert plants [41]. In our study, ITI was positively connected with SVWC in both soil water and salinity habitats, and the association between ITI and SVWC was more significant in desert plants than EC.…”