Chinese Journal of Plant Ecology >
Difference in non-structural carbohydrates between fresh and senescent leaves of 11 tree species in a subtropical common-garden
Received date: 2021-01-08
Accepted date: 2021-04-06
Online published: 2021-04-25
Supported by
National Natural Science Foundation of China(31800521);National Natural Science Foundation of China(32022056);National Natural Science Foundation of China(31922052);National Natural Science Foundation of China(31800373)
Aims Non-structural carbohydrates (NSC) are available carbon in plants and can be utilized as an energy source during plant metabolism, so NSC are important components for plant growth and metabolic activities, particularly under environmental stress. Moreover, NSC in senescent leaves as litter-fall provide available carbon for soil microorganisms involving in soil organic matter formation and biogeochemical cycles in forests. Therefore, study on the variation in NSC between fresh and senescent leaves is of great significance for understanding the carbon metabolism during plant growth and carbon biogeochemical cycles during early decomposition of plant litter. The objective of this study was to determine the difference in NSC content between fresh and senescent leaves of 11 subtropical tree species and the variation between leaves with different plant functional types.
Methods A common garden was established in the stands with similar soil development, aspect, slope, and management history at the Sanming Research Station of Forest Ecosystem and Global Change in February 2012. A total of 13 representative subtropical tree species (2-year-old) were planted in the common garden, which were designed according to random blocks with 4 replicates for each tree species (a total of 52 plots with approximately 0.1 hm2 for each plot). In this study, the fresh and senescent leaves of 11 tree species, including evergreen broadleaved species Schima superba, Lindera communis, Elaeocarpus decipiens, Michelia macclurei, Castanopsis carlesii and Cinnamomum camphora, deciduous broadleaved tree species Liriodendron chinense, Liquidambar formosana and Sapindus mukorossi, and coniferous tree species Cunninghamia lanceolata and Pinus massoniana were collected in August 2019. The contents of NSCs, including soluble sugars and starch, in fresh and senescent leaves of the 11 tree species were determined.
Important findings The NSC content was significantly higher in fresh leaves than that in senescent leaves for all of the studied tree species. The NSC contents in fresh leaves were 68.7-126.3 mg∙g-1, while those in senescent leaves were 31.4-79.5 mg∙g-1. Notably, the variation in soluble sugar between fresh leaves and senescent leaves was much greater than that of starch. Specifically, the average content of soluble sugar in fresh leaves was 3.3 times greater than that of senescent leaves, and the average starch content in fresh leaves was 1.2 times greater than that of senescent leaves. Moreover, the NSC contents in both fresh and senescent leaves varied significantly among trees with different plant functional types. For example, the NSC contents in both fresh and senescent leaves of evergreen and deciduous broad-leaved trees showed similar levels, while the NSC contents in evergreen coniferous trees were significantly lower than those in broad-leaved trees. In fresh leaves, the average NSC contents in evergreen and deciduous broad-leaved trees were 99.7 and 96.8 mg∙g-1, respectively, while the average NSC content in evergreen coniferous trees was 75.4 mg∙g-1; In senescent leaves, the average NSC contents in evergreen and deciduous broad-leaved trees were 47.2 and 50.7 mg∙g-1, respectively, while the average NSC content in evergreen coniferous trees was 33.3 mg∙g-1. These results suggest that NSC, an important carbon metabolic component for trees, could be transferred from senescent leaves to fresh leaves before senescence; this is a significant strategy for carbon storage during plant growth. However, the NSC content was significantly lower in subtropical coniferous trees (such as Cunninghamia lanceolata and Pinus massoniana) than in broad-leaved trees, regardless of fresh and senescent leaves, suggesting that the initial substrate quality is lower in these coniferous litters with less labile components following forest plantation in subtropical China. This difference in NSC content in foliar litter has significant influence for litter decomposition and soil organic matter formation mediated by microbial metabolism and turnover. These results are of great significance for improving the theory of carbon metabolism during plant growth and for understanding the dynamic changes of carbon components during the early decomposition of leaves litter in subtropical forests.
WU Qiu-Xia, WU Fu-Zhong, HU Yi, KANG Zi-Jia, ZHANG Yao-Yi, YANG Jing, YUE Kai, NI Xiang-Yin, YANG Yu-Sheng . Difference in non-structural carbohydrates between fresh and senescent leaves of 11 tree species in a subtropical common-garden[J]. Chinese Journal of Plant Ecology, 2021 , 45(7) : 771 -779 . DOI: 10.17521/cjpe.2021.0010
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