The role of wood anatomical traits in the coexistence of oak species along an environmental gradient

Abstract

Oaks (Quercus L.) are a dominant woody plant genus in the northern hemisphere, which occupy a wide range of habitats and are ecologically diverse. We analyzed the wood anatomical traits, the variables derived, and the relative hydraulic conductivity of 21 oak species to identify their performance according to abiotic factors, leaf phenological patterns, and phylogenetic restrictions by analyzing the interspecific variation along an environmental gradient. First, we determine the causes of anatomical trait variation in the oaks, analyzing the functional trade-offs related to distribution along the environmental gradient. We measure the phenotypic plasticity of the anatomical traits to determine the role of environment and geographic distance in the range of phenotypic plasticity. Second, we examined if oaks co-occurred along the environmental gradient. Then we analyzed if wood anatomical traits reflect differences among their phylogenetic section, leaf habit, and a phylogenetic section/leaf habit category. Last, we tested the phylogenetic signal. Our results showed that vessel diameter, vessel frequency, wood density, and relative hydraulic conductivity are the main axes of trait variation in the species analyzed among leaf habit categories. The aridity index and seasonal precipitation drive the variation in the analyzed traits. Higher environmental distance resulted in a higher relative distance plasticity index among traits. Co-occurrence of oak species with different leaf habits and phylogenetic trajectories may promote complementary resource acquisition. The phylogenetic signal in the oak species studied was low, which implies labile wood traits.

Intraspecific variation in growth‐related traits—from leaf to whole‐tree—in three provenances of Cryptomeria japonica canopy trees grown in a common garden

“…Hydraulic conductivity is governed by the morphology, dimensions (particularly the diameter), and spatial arrangements of the conducting elements (vessels and tracheids) (Hacke et al, 2017; Tyree & Zimmermann, 2002). The diameter of conducting elements varies according to tree size (Olson et al, 2014), environmental gradients (Arenas‐Navarro et al, 2021; Zheng et al, 2022), and position within trees (Petit et al, 2008; Spicer & Gartner, 2001). The latter factor determines the pattern of accumulation of hydraulic resistance along tree height, thus influencing whole‐tree hydraulic conductivity, especially in large trees (Liu et al, 2019).…”

Compromisos de rasgos del leño en plantas del desierto: un modelo triangular para comprender las variaciones intra e interespecíficas a lo largo de un gradiente de aridez

“…El principal compromiso en la inversión en área de tejido entre especies a lo largo del gradiente de aridez fue de parénquima versus fibras, con una importancia menor para el área de los vasos. Esto apoya la idea de que el compromiso entre parénquima y fibras es una característica conservada en un amplio espectro de especies de diferentes ambientes, en función de las variaciones espaciales de aridez (Arenas‐Navarro et al, 2021; Fortunel et al, 2014; Janssen et al, 2020; Morris et al, 2016; Pratt & Jacobsen, 2017; Ziemińska et al, 2013). También se registraron diferencias en los compromisos entre especies arbustivas y arbórea a lo largo del gradiente de aridez.…”

“…El espacio triangular es el resultado de un triplot de cada individuo de las especies estudiadas a lo largo del gradiente de aridez (n por sitio por especie = 10) y muestra la variabilidad en los rasgos de área de tejidos asociados a la sequía (en porcentaje). Se realizó un análisis multivariado de la varianza con permutaciones (PERMANOVA) para comprobar si existían diferencias significativas entre las tres especies dentro del modelo triangular propuesto (Anderson, 2017). Además, para evaluar el poder de generalización de nuestro modelo, utilizamos datos de rasgos de área de especies leñosas de ecosistemas húmedos/lluviosos (Brandes & Barros, 2008;Carvalho et al, 2015;Fujiwara et al, 1991).…”

Adaptation potential of Neotropical montane oaks to drought events: Wood anatomy sensitivity in Quercus delgadoana and Quercus meavei

“…Therefore, these two morphological features will probably play a key role in xylem functional plasticity in the face of climate variation (Fonti & Jansen, 2012). These results should be interpreted with caution, however, as we failed to include the entire geographical range of the two study oaks, so that differences in forest structure across these ranges could be associated with particular environmental features, ultimately influencing the wood anatomical variability and resilience in the event of droughts (Arenas‐Navarro et al, 2021).…”