植物生态学报 ›› 2022, Vol. 46 ›› Issue (11): 1364-1375.DOI: 10.17521/cjpe.2021.0491

• 研究论文 • 上一篇    下一篇

内蒙古锦鸡儿属植物地理替代分布种的功能性状沿环境梯度的变化

罗源林1, 马文红1,2,*(), 张芯毓1, 苏闯1, 史亚博1, 赵利清1,2   

  1. 1内蒙古大学生态与环境学院, 呼和浩特 010021
    2内蒙古大学蒙古高原生态学与资源利用教育部重点实验室, 呼和浩特 010021
  • 收稿日期:2021-12-27 接受日期:2022-06-23 出版日期:2022-11-20 发布日期:2022-07-06
  • 通讯作者: *马文红(whma@imu.edu.cn)
  • 基金资助:
    国家科技基础性工作专项(2015FY1103003);中国科学院战略性先导科技专项(A类)(XDA26010101);内蒙古自治区科技重大专项(2021ZD0011)

Variation of functional traits of alternative distribution of Caragana species along environmental gradients in Nei Mongol, China

LUO Yuan-Lin1, MA Wen-Hong1,2,*(), ZHANG Xin-Yu1, SU Chuang1, SHI Ya-Bo1, ZHAO Li-Qing1,2   

  1. 1School of Ecology and Environment, Inner Mongolia University, Hohhot 010021, China
    2Key Laboratory of Ecology and Resource Use of Mongolian Plateau, Ministry of Education, Inner Mongolia University, Hohhot 010021, China
  • Received:2021-12-27 Accepted:2022-06-23 Online:2022-11-20 Published:2022-07-06
  • Contact: *MA Wen-Hong(whma@imu.edu.cn)
  • Supported by:
    The Special Foundation for National Science and Technology Basic Research Program of China(2015FY1103003);The Strategic Priority Research Program of Chinese Academy of Sciences(XDA26010101);The Science and Technology Major Project of Inner Mongolia(2021ZD0011)

摘要:

锦鸡儿属(Caragana)植物是蒙古高原干旱生态系统的重要组成成分, 沿着环境梯度形成了极为明显的地理替代分布。为了检验这些替代分布种对气候和土壤环境变化的适应性, 该研究在内蒙古地区选择了41个样地、9种锦鸡儿属植物, 测定了这些植物的株高(h)、叶性状(叶干物质含量(LDMC)、比叶面积(SLA)、叶面积(LA)、叶片氮含量(LNC)、叶片磷含量(LPC)和氮磷比(N:P))和茎性状(茎组织密度(STD)), 分析了不同功能性状之间及功能性状与气候和土壤特征之间的关系。结果表明: 9种植物的功能性状沿着气候梯度呈现出明显的变化趋势, 干燥度指数解释了大部分功能性状29%以上的变异(N:P除外), 随着干旱程度增强, 植物的h、SLA、LA、LNC和LPC降低, 而LDMC和STD增加。土壤氮含量也在一定程度上影响植物的功能性状, 尤其是反映植物竞争光和空间等资源的重要性状(h)以及反映植物生长速率的关键性状(SLA、LNC和STD), 都与土壤氮供应能力显著相关。而土壤pH对锦鸡儿属植物的性状解释度较低。整体上, 在属水平上植物功能性状之间具有较强的共变关系, 但在种水平上, 分布最广的柠条锦鸡儿(C. korshinskii)和小叶锦鸡儿(C. microphylla)具有较强的性状共变关系, 其他分布范围较小物种功能性状间的共变关系相对较弱。这一结果意味着植物功能性状在属内的变化对气候和土壤环境变化产生一定的适应, 有助于预测全球变化背景下群落结构以及功能多样性的变化。分布范围较小的植物种内功能性状间的共变关系微弱, 意味着植物经济谱理论不一定适合在局域尺度上解释植物在个体水平上对资源的利用和对环境变化的适应策略。

关键词: 植物功能性状, 性状共变关系, 干燥度指数, 土壤氮含量, 锦鸡儿属植物

Abstract:

Aims Trait-trait relationships and trait-environment relationships are critical for understanding species distribution, community assembly and plant strategy to environmental change. Caragana species distribute widely in arid Mongolia Plateau, and shape the alternative distribution along the environmental gradients. To understand the plant strategies to climate and soil, the trait-trait relationships and trait-environmental relationships were documented for Caragana species in Nei Mongol region.
Methods We measured eight morphological and chemical traits from nine Caragana species distributed across 41 sites in Nei Mongol, including plant height (h), leaf dry matter content (LDMC), specific leaf area (SLA), stem tissue density (STD), leaf area (LA), leaf nitrogen content (LNC), leaf phosphorus content (LPC), and leaf nitrogen to phosphorus ratio (N:P). We tested the trait-trait relationships between species and within species, and explored their relationships with aridity, soil nitrogen content and pH at the genus levels.
Important findings We found that the aridity index explained more than 29% of the variation in most functional traits (except N:P), with h, SLA, LA, LNC, and LPC decreased, while LDMC and STD increased with increasing drought. h, SLA, LDMC, STD and LNC were also affected by soil total nitrogen content. However, soil pH explained less for Caragana traits. The synchronous correlations or trade-offs among different functional traits were stronger at the genus level, while the trait-trait relationships within species were weak. There was a consistent increase in h, SLA, LA, LNC and LPC, but a decrease in LDMC and STD to declined aridity. We only observed significant correlations at the within-species level for C. korshinskii and C. microphylla, which were the most widely distributed. Plants with smaller distribution range have weak intraspecific covariation relationships among functional traits, which indicated that the plant economic spectrum theory is not necessarily suitable to explain the utilization of resources and the adaptation strategies of plants to environmental changes at the local scale at the individual level.

Key words: plant functional trait, trait covariation relationship, aridity index, soil nitrogen content, Caragana species