Chin J Plant Ecol ›› 2022, Vol. 46 ›› Issue (8): 961-970.DOI: 10.17521/cjpe.2021.0434

Special Issue: 生态化学计量 植物功能性状

• Research Articles • Previous Articles    

Plant functional traits and ecological stoichiometric characteristics under water-salt gradient in the lakeshore zone of Bosten Lake

WANG Jun-Qiang, LIU Bin(), CHANG Feng, MA Zi-Jing, FAN Jia-Hui, HE Xiang-Ju, YOU Si-Xue, Aerziguli ABUDUREXITI, YANG Ying-Ke, SHEN Xin-Yan   

  1. Xinjiang Key Laboratory of Special Species Conservation and Regulatory Biology, Key Laboratory of Special Environment Biodiversity Application and Regulation in Xinjiang, School of Life Sciences, Xinjiang Normal University, Ürümqi 830000, China
  • Received:2021-11-24 Accepted:2022-04-19 Online:2022-08-20 Published:2022-08-20
  • Contact: LIU Bin
  • Supported by:
    National Natural Science Foundation of China(32160271)

Abstract:

Aims In order to explore the effects of different water and salt environments on the plant functional traits and their ecological stoichiometric characteristics at the lakeshore zone of Bosten Lake. The dominant plants and soil environmental factors in this area were selected to clarify the strategy of plant adaptation to the environments in this region.

Methods Eighteen sample plots were set up to investigate plant diversity. A total of 24 plant species including 8 shrubs and 16 herbaceous species were examined. The relationship between functional traits of plant leaves and soil environmental factors was tested using redundancy analysis method.

Important findings Our results showed that leaf functional traits varied considerably with the increasing water and salt content. Among plant traits, the chlorophyll content (SPAD), leaf thickness (LT) and specific leaf area (SLA) were the greatest in low water and salt environments, while the leaf water content (LWC), leaf dry matter content (LDMC) and leaf dry mass (LDM) were greater in medium and high water and salt environments. The content of carbon (C), nitrogen (N) and phosphorus (P) of plant leaves and their stoichiometric ratios were highly variable, with the C:N being 9.35-26.51 and the range of C:P being 50.13-228.95. The range of N:P was 2.31-11.99, with the largest variation in C:P. The Leaf C content was significantly and positively correlated with LT, LDMC and LDM, and leaf N content was significantly and positively correlated with SPAD and LT, while leaf P content was significantly and positively correlated with LWC. Whereas, C:N and C:P were both significantly and positively correlated with LDMC, while N:P was not correlated with any of the leaf functional traits. SLA was not correlated with any of the leaf ecological stoichiometric characteristics. The correlation between environmental factors and the functional traits of the dominant plant leaves revealed that the environmental factors affecting the functional traits of plants differed between species.

Key words: water-salt gradient, functional trait, stoichiometric characteristic, wetland