Response of compound leaf types and photosynthetic function of male and female Fraxinus mandschurica to different habitats

doi:10.17521/cjpe.2022.0219

Abstract

Abstract:

Aims The morphology and photosynthetic functions of compound leaf are one of the most intuitive manifestations of plant response to habitats. The changes of photosynthetic capacity and number of leaflets of compound leaf directly reflect the adaptability of plants to habitats. There are some morphological differences between male and female Fraxinus mandschurica, and their compound leaf may have different adaptabilities in various habitats.
Methods This experiment took compound leaves male and female mature F. mandschurica growing in the drought saline-alkali habitat and suitable habitat as the research materials. The gender differences between female and male plants and the differences of morphology and photosynthetic function between compound leaf with different numbers of leaflets under two habitats were compared and analyzed.
Important findings The results showed that (1) compared with the suitable habitat, the morphology and photosynthetic capacity of compound leaf with the same number leaflets of female and male F. mandschurica under the drought saline-alkali habitat did not show gender difference, but the increment of percentages of compound leaf with 9 leaflets of female plants was 29.13% higher than that of the male plants, the decrement of percentages of compound leaf with 11 leaflets was 33.74% higher than that of the male plants, and the decreament of photosynthetic rate of compound leaf with 9 leaflets of female plants was 10.98% higher than that of the male plants. (2) Under the suitable habitat, the proportion of compound leaves of male plants was mainly concentrated within 9 and 11 leaflets, while the proportion of compound leaf of female plants was mainly concentrated within 11 leaflets. Meanwhile, the specific leaf area and leaf dry mass of compound leaves with 11 leaflets of female and male plants were greater than that of compound leaf with 7 and 9 leaflets. Under the drought saline-alkali habitat, the proportion of compound leaf of female and male plants was mainly concentrated in 9 leaflets. The specific leaf area of compound leaf with 9 leaflets of male and female plants was less than that of 11 leaflet compound leaf, whereas the leaf dry mass showed the opposite trend. There was also no significant difference in the net photosynthetic rate of compound leaf with 9 and 11 leaflets between female and male plants in the two habitats. (3) Among the indexes of compound leaf morphology and stomatal gas exchange capacity, the percentages of compound leaf with different number of leaflets, leaf dry mass, specific leaf area and net photosynthetic rate of compound leaf have high plasticity. Therefore, under the suitable habitat, there is no gender difference in the photosynthetic function between male and female plants, but there are gender differences in the morphology of compound leaf of male and female F. mandschurica, which are shown as follows: the female plants mainly developed the compound leaf with 11 leaflets, and the male plants predominantly developed the compound leaf with 9 leaflets and 11 leaflets. However, under the drought saline-alkali habitat, the morphology and photosynthetic function of compound leaf of male and female F. mandschurica did not show gender differences, and both female and male plants mainly developed the compound leaf with 9 leaflets. This study provides a theoretical basis for the gender difference in the growth and development of compound leaf in different habitats, and also provides data support for the ecological adaptability of compound leaf of dioecious trees.

Key words: Fraxinus mandschurica, dioecious plant, compound leaf, drought saline-alkali habitat, phenotypic plasticity

MA Chang-Qin, HUANG Hai-Long, PENG Zheng-Lin, WU Chun-Ze, WEI Qing-Yu, JIA Hong-Tao, WEI Xing. Response of compound leaf types and photosynthetic function of male and female Fraxinus mandschurica to different habitats[J]. Chin J Plant Ecol, 2023, 47(9): 1287-1297.

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URL: https://www.plant-ecology.com/EN/10.17521/cjpe.2022.0219

https://www.plant-ecology.com/EN/Y2023/V47/I9/1287

Figures/Tables 7

Fig. 1 Three types of compound leaf of Fraxinus mandschurica.

Table 1 Two-factor ANOVA of habitat and gender on the proportion of compound leaves of different leaflet number of Fraxinus mandschurica

	7小叶 7 leaflets	9小叶 9 leaflets	11小叶 11 leaflets
生境 Habitat	8.76^**	28.58^**	29.70^**
性别 Gender	0.06^**	1.98	4.83^*
性别×生境 Gender × habitat	7.49^**	0.40	8.75^**

Fig. 2 Violin plots of proportion of compound leaf types with different leaflet number of male and female Fraxinus mandschurica under two habitats. The black horizontal line in the box represents the median of percentages of compound leaves per plant, and the upper and lower edges of the white box represents the upper and lower quartiles in the data set. *, p < 0.05; **, p < 0.01; ns, p > 0.05.

Fig. 3 Effects of two habitats on the leaf morphology of compound leaf types with different leaflet number of male and female Fraxinus mandschurica (mean ± SE). F, female; M, male. Different lowercase letters indicate significant difference in compound leaf with the same leaflets number of female and male plants in the two habitats (p < 0.05), and different uppercase letters indicate significant differences in compound leaf with the different leaflets number of the same sex plants in the same habitat (p < 0.05).

Fig. 4 Effects of two habitats on the leaf dry mass and water content of compound leaf types with different leaflet number of male and female Fraxinus mandschurica (mean ± SE). F, female; M, male. Different lowercase letters indicate significant difference in compound leaf with the same leaflets number of female and male plants in the two habitats (p < 0.05), and different uppercase letters indicate significant difference in compound leaf with the different leaflets number of the same sex plants in the same habitat (p < 0.05).

Fig. 5 Effects of two habitats on the stomatal gas exchange capacity of compound leaf types of different leaflet number in male and female Fraxinus mandschurica (mean ± SE). F, female; M, male. Different lowercase letters indicate significant difference in compound leaf with the same leaflets number of female and male plants in the two habitats (p < 0.05), and different uppercase letters indicate significant difference in compound leaf with the different leaflets number of the same sex plants in the same habitat (p < 0.05).

Table 2 Plasticity index of compound leaf types with different leaflet number of male and female Fraxinus mandschurica (relative distance plasticity index) (RDPI)

性别 Gender	复叶类型 Compound leaf type	单株数量占比 Percentages of single plant	叶面积 Leaf area	叶长 Leaf length	叶宽 Leaf width	叶干质量 Leaf dry mass	叶含水量 Leaf water content	比叶面积 Specific leaf area	净光合速率 Net photosynthetic rate	气孔导度 Stomatal conductance	胞间CO₂浓度 Intercellular CO₂concentration	蒸腾速率 Transpiration rate
雌 Female	7小叶 7 leaflets	0.65	0.05	0.09	0.06	0.25	0.00	0.30	0.11	0.02	0.01	0.02
	9小叶 9 leaflets	0.28	0.04	0.03	0.02	0.29	0.06	0.34	0.15	0.11	0.09	0.10
	11小叶 11 leaflets	0.55	0.08	0.06	0.06	0.15	0.04	0.21	0.17	0.01	0.03	0.03
雄 Male	7小叶 7 leaflets	0.02	0.05	0.05	0.01	0.23	0.08	0.28	0.12	0.21	0.04	0.05
	9小叶 9 leaflets	0.19	0.05	0.08	0.02	0.21	0.05	0.28	0.16	0.15	0.02	0.02
	11小叶 11 leaflets	0.23	0.14	0.13	0.08	0.14	0.05	0.19	0.18	0.06	0.02	0.03
雌株均值 Mean value in female		0.49	0.06	0.06	0.05	0.23	0.03	0.28	0.14	0.05	0.04	0.05
雄株均值 Mean value in male		0.15	0.08	0.09	0.04	0.19	0.06	0.25	0.15	0.14	0.03	0.03
总均值 Total mean value		0.32	0.07	0.08	0.05	0.21	0.05	0.27	0.15	0.06	0.04	0.04

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