Comparison on leaf construction cost of different plant groups in the desert area of the Hexi Corridor

doi:10.17521/cjpe.2022.0414

Abstract

Abstract:

Aims Leaf construction cost (LCC) is a measure of the energy cost of building leaves per unit mass or area. Its differences and changes can reflect the energy utilization strategies and environmental adaptation characteristics of plants. This study assumes that desert plants of different functional groups have different leaf energy utilization strategies, which are conducive to their adaptation to arid environments.

Methods Taking the main desert plants in the desert area of the Hexi Corridor as the research object, the differences of LCC in different ecosystems and different plant functional groups were compared, and the relationships between LCC and other leaf traits were analyzed, as well as the change of LCC with environmental factors.

Important findings LCC of plant unit mass in this desert ecosystem was significantly lower than that in forest and grassland ecosystems. In desert ecosystems, LCC per unit mass of succulent plants is significantly lower than that of non succulent plants, while LCC per unit area has no significant difference between the two plant groups. The correlations between leaf carbon, nitrogen contents, calorific value and ash content and LCC indicate that ash content is the internal determinant of LCC difference between succulent plants and non succulent plants. The contribution of environmental factors to the spatial variation of unit mass LCC is very limited (11.22% for succulent plants, 25.30% for non succulent plants, and 24.99% for all plants), and only soil conductivity, annual mean air temperature, and annual precipitation among the six environmental factors show significant independent contributions. LCC per unit mass of succulent plants decreases with the decrease of annual average temperature, while LCC per unit mass of non succulent plants decreases with the decrease of annual precipitation and annual mean air temperature. The results of this study show that reducing the cost of leaf construction per unit mass rather than per unit area is more beneficial for plants to adapt to drought and high salt desert habitats.

Key words: leaf construction cost, desert plant, plant functional group, leaf trait, environmental factor

ZHAO Zhen-Xian, CHEN Yin-Ping, WANG Li-Long, WANG Tong-Tong, LI Yu-Qiang. Comparison on leaf construction cost of different plant groups in the desert area of the Hexi Corridor[J]. Chin J Plant Ecol, 2023, 47(11): 1551-1560.

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URL: https://www.plant-ecology.com/EN/10.17521/cjpe.2022.0414

https://www.plant-ecology.com/EN/Y2023/V47/I11/1551

Figures/Tables 7

Fig. 1 Comparison of the mass-based leaf construction cost between desert ecosystems and grassland, forest and tundra ecosystems (mean ± SD). **, there is a very significant difference with the desert ecosystem (p < 0.01).

Table 1 Leaf construction cost characteristics of 52 plant species in desert area of the Hexi Corridor (mean ± SE)

	LCC_m (g·g^-1)			LCC_a (g·m^-2)
	平均值 Mean	最大值 Max	最小值 Min	平均值 Mean	最大值 Max	最小值 Min
总体 Total	1.25 ± 0.03	1.57	0.69	192.84 ± 14.34	763.32	82.68
肉质植物 Succulent plant	1.10 ± 0.04	1.47	0.69	199.92 ± 15.79	374.79	110.21
非肉质植物 Non-succulent plant	1.40 ± 0.03	1.57	0.93	185.75 ± 24.21	763.32	82.68
t检验 t test	p = 0.000			p = 0.626
草本 Herb	1.29 ± 0.04	1.57	0.73	172.44 ± 12.68	361.16	82.68
灌木 Shrub	1.22 ± 0.05	1.53	0.69	213.23 ± 25.41	763.32	110.21
t检验 t test	p = 0.259			p = 0.157

Fig. 2 Differences in the desert plant mass-based leaf construction cost of different functional groups and their relationships with the gross calorific value (GCV) (A), the ash free caloric values (AFCV) (B), the ash content (AC) (C), the carbon content (LTC) (D), the nitrogen content (LTN) (E), and the specific leaf area (SLA) (F). **, there is a very significant difference between succulent (S) and non succulent (NS) plants (p < 0.01).

Fig. 3 Differences in the desert plant area-based leaf construction cost of different functional groups and their relationships with the area-based leaf gross calorific value (GCV) (A), the ash free caloric values (AFCV) (B), the ash content (AC) (C), the carbon content (LTC) (D), the nitrogen content (LTN) (E), and the specific leaf area (SLA) (F). **, there is a very significant difference between succulent (S) and non succulent (NS) plants (p < 0.01).

Table 2 Fraction of variance (%) accounted for environmental factors in site-level leaf construction cost

植物类群 Plant group	全模型 Full model	环境因子 Environmental factor
		pH	EC	STN	MAT	MAP	ATSR
肉质叶植物 S	11.22	6.39	20.66	13.49	35.33^*	9.26	14.87
非肉质叶植物 NS	25.30	18.45	15.11	7.32	23.94^*	32.43^*	2.75
所有植物 All	24.99	8.55	50.60^*	9.20	26.30^*	2.92	2.43

Fig. 4 Relationships between the the mass-based leaf construction cost (LCCm) of desert plants and soil electrical conductivity (EC) (A), mean annual air temperature (MAT) (B). Data were lg-transformed to improve their normality.

Fig. 5 Relationships between the mass-based leaf construction cost (LCCm) of desert plants of different functional groups and mean annual air temperature (MAT) (A), mean annual precipitation (MAP) (B). Data were lg-transformed to improve their normality.

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