Gender dimorphism in nutritional resource requirements of dioecious tree species Rhamnus schneideri var. manshurica

doi:10.17521/cjpe.2022.0470

Abstract

Abstract:

Aims To provide theoretical references for sex-specific resource requirement and utilization strategies of dioecious plants, we investigated the gender differences and dynamic changes of leaf element contents in male and female plants of Rhamnus schneideri var. manshurica at different stages of reproduction.
Methods Both male and female R. schneideri var. manshurica were selected from a permanent fixed monitoring sample plot of 23.76 hm² in a natural mixed coniferous and broadleaf forest in Jiaohe, Jilin. Foliar nutrient (nitrogen (N), phosphorus (P), potassium (K), calcium (Ca), magnesium (Mg), ferrum (Fe), and boron (B)) contents of each plant during five reproductive stages from 2019 to 2021 were determined and compared. The flower and fruit biomass of male and female plants were calculated for each reproduction stage. Differences in flower and fruit biomass between male and female plants at each stages of reproduction were tested using ANOVAs. Furthermore, we analyzed the mechanism underlying the occurrence and dynamics of gender differences in foliar nutrient elements of male and female plants.
Important findings (1) Gender differences in foliar nutrient contents of male and female R. schneideri var. manshurica were significant only at certain reproductive stages. During the 2019 flower period, there were no significant differences in foliar elemental contents between male and female plants. During the 2021 flower period, P content in female leaves was significantly lower than that of male plants. During the fruit period, foliar P and K content of female plants was significantly less than that of male plants. In contrast, foliar N, P, K, Ca, Mg, Fe and B contents of female plants were significantly greater than male plants in the 2020 fruit period. During the 2021 fruit period, foliar P, K, and Mg contents in female plants was significantly greater than male plants. (2) Flower biomass and flower number of male plants were significantly greater than female plants during flower periods in both 2019 and 2021. (3) At the fruiting stage, the order of fruit number and fruit biomass of female plants was 2020 fruit period > 2021 fruit period > 2019 fruit period. There were gender differences in foliar nutrient contents, which were expressed differently at different stages of reproduction. During the flower period, there was no significant difference in leaf element content between male and female plants, indicating that male plants do not increase leaf element content stores due to high reproductive inputs during heavy flowering. However, during the fruit period, foliar nutrient contents in female plants was influenced by reproductive activities, and the increase in nutrient stocks in more fruit-bearing years contributed to the more pronounced sex difference in nutrient contents. Our results suggest that the degree of sexually dimorphic expression of nutrient content in male and female R. schneideri var. manshurica may be influenced and limited by the reproductive stages, and that the greater reproductive resource inputs of female, the more pronounced sexually dimorphic expression.

Key words: dioecious plant, nutrient element, dynamic change, reproduction

ZHANG Qi, Yeerjiang BAIKETUERHAN, WANG Juan. Gender dimorphism in nutritional resource requirements of dioecious tree species Rhamnus schneideri var. manshurica[J]. Chin J Plant Ecol, 2023, 47(12): 1708-1717.

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URL: https://www.plant-ecology.com/EN/10.17521/cjpe.2022.0470

https://www.plant-ecology.com/EN/Y2023/V47/I12/1708

Figures/Tables 7

Table 1 Individual number of Rhamnus schneideri var. manshurica surveyed in each stage of reproduction

性别 Sex	2019年花期 Flower period in 2019	2019年果期 Fruit period in 2019	2020年果期 Fruit period in 2020	2021年花期 Flower period in 2021	2021年果期 Fruit period in 2021
雌株 Female	37	33	32	32	30
雄株 Male	14	10	9	30	30
合计 Total	51	43	41	62	60

Table 2 Effects of gender and reproduction stage on nutrient contents in leaves of Rhamnus schneideri var. manshurica

变异来源 Source of variation	氮 N		磷 P		钾 K		钙 Ca		镁 Mg		铁 Fe		硼 B
变异来源 Source of variation	F	p	F	p	F	p	F	p	F	p	F	p	F	p
性别 Sex	0.42	0.517	1.22	0.271	0.27	0.606	0.57	0.450	0.30	0.584	0.45	0.502	0.51	0.476
繁殖阶段 Stages of reproduction	83.92	<0.001	32.44	<0.001	74.03	<0.001	87.42	<0.001	77.31	<0.001	89.52	<0.001	86.47	0.000
性别×繁殖阶段 Sex × stages of reproduction	2.47	0.045	7.41	<0.001	4.28	0.002	2.16	0.074	4.3	0.002	3.27	0.012	2.70	0.031

Fig. 1 Dynamic changes of nutrient contents in leaves of male and female Rhamnus schneideri var. manshurica in flower periods (mean ± SD). Different uppercase letters indicate significant differences between male and female plants (p < 0.05), and different lowercase letters indicate significant differences between years (p < 0.05). B, boron; Ca, calcium; Fe, ferrum; K, potassium; Mg, magnesium; N, nitrogen; P, phosphorus.

Fig. 2 Dynamic changes of nutrient contents in leaves of male and female Rhamnus schneideri var. manshurica in fruit periods (mean ± SD). Different uppercase letters indicate significant differences between male and female plants (p < 0.05), and different lowercase letters indicate significant differences between years (p < 0.05). B, boron; Ca, calcium; Fe, ferrum; K, potassium; Mg, magnesium; N, nitrogen; P, phosphorus.

Fig. 3 Differences in flower biomass and flower number between male and female Rhamnus schneideri var. manshurica at different stages of reproduction. A, B, Flower period in 2019. C, D, Flower period in 2021.

Table 3 Differences in fruit biomass and fruit number of female Rhamnus schneideri var. manshurica in fruit stage (mean ± SE)

年份 year	株数 Tree number	果生物量 Fruit biomass (g)	果数 Fruit number
2019	33	0.14 ± 0.04^b	9.08 ± 2.67^b
2020	32	0.71 ± 0.26^a	37.21 ± 13.73^a
2021	30	0.31 ± 0.11^ab	12.74 ± 4.76^b
总计 Total	95	0.39 ± 0.10	19.71 ± 5.07

Table 4 Soil (0-10 cm) element content and differences between male and female plants of Rhamnus schneideri var. manshurica (mean ± SE)

性别 Sex	全氮 Total nitrogen (g·kg^-1)	全磷 Total phosphorus (g·kg^-1)	全钾 Total potassium (g·kg^-1)
雌株 Female	1.97 ± 0.02	0.80 ± 0.01	1.41 ± 0.00
雄株 Male	1.96 ± 0.02	0.80 ± 0.01	1.41 ± 0.00
p	0.622	0.974	0.408

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