Chin J Plant Ecol ›› 2025, Vol. 49 ›› Issue (7): 1144-1155.DOI: 10.17521/cjpe.2024.0137  cstr: 32100.14.cjpe.2024.0137

• Research Articles • Previous Articles     Next Articles

Physiological and biochemical properties of Rhododendron tomentosum under different forest types and its adaptability

QIU Zhi-Hao, ZHAO Ting-Ting, ZHANG Qing-Fen, LIU Jia-Yi, YUAN Xiao-Tong, YANG Feng-Jian*()   

  1. Key Laboratory of Forest Plant Ecology, Ministry of Education; College of Chemistry, Chemical Engineering and Resource Utilization; Engineering Research Center of Forestry Bio-preparation, Ministry of Education; Key Laboratory of Ecological Utilization of Active Substances from Forest Sources; National-Local Joint Engineering Laboratory for Ecological Utilization of Biological Resources; Northeast Forestry University, Harbin 150040, China
  • Received:2024-04-29 Accepted:2024-11-12 Online:2025-07-20 Published:2024-11-13
  • Contact: YANG Feng-Jian

Abstract:

Aims To comprehensively explore the physiological and ecological characteristics and adaptability of Rhododendron tomentosum in different forest types.
Methods This study investigated the physiological and biochemical characteristics and adaptability of R. tomentosum in four forest types (Betula platyphyllaforest, Larix gmeliniiforest, Pinus pumila forest and mixed coniferous broadleaf forest of B. platyphylla and L. gmelinii), and conducted a fuzzy evaluation for each forest type.
Important findings The results showed that different forest types had significant effects on the photosynthetic physiological characteristics of R. tomentosum. In B. platyphylla forest, R. tomentosum showed strong photosynthetic ability, high photosynthetic pigment content, high antioxidant enzyme activity, relatively high total polyphenols and total flavonoids content, and strong photosynthetic growth and stress resistance, indicating that R. tomentosum was better adapted to this forest type. In mixed coniferous broadleaf forest and L. gmelini forest, R. tomentosum had high volatile oil content, and the rest of the indexes were in the moderate level, and the thus adaptability was moderate. However, in P. pumila forest, the photosynthetic capacity of R. tomentosum was weak, the antioxidant enzyme activity was low, but its total polyphenols and total flavonoids and anthocyanins contents were high, which showed a certain degree of adaptability to adapt to the high alpine environment. This study provides a theoretical basis for the in-depth understanding of the growth pattern and adaptive mechanism of R. tomentosum under different forest types, and also provides theoretical support and practical guidance for the ecological protection, resource utilization and forestry production of R. tomentosum.

Key words: Rhododendron tomentosum, forest type, physiological and biochemical properties, correlation analysis, adaptability