Open AccessChanges in specific leaf area of dominant plants in temperate grasslands along a 2500-km transect in northern China
Author(s) -
Mengzhou Liu,
Zhengwen Wang,
Shanshan Li,
XiaoTao Lü,
Xiaobo Wang,
Xingguo Han
Publication year - 2017
Publication title -
scientific reports
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.24
H-Index - 213
ISSN - 2045-2322
DOI - 10.1038/s41598-017-11133-z
Subject(s) - temperate climate , environmental science , ecosystem , grassland , transect , specific leaf area , arid , carex , stipa , ecology , agronomy , physical geography , biology , geography , botany , photosynthesis
Specific leaf area (SLA) is a key trait with great ecological importance as it correlates with whole plant growth. We aimed to investigate how SLA varies with environmental factors at a geographical scale in temperate grasslands. We measured SLA and mass-based leaf nitrogen content ( N mass ) of four dominant plant genera along a 2500 km climatic gradient in northern China grassland, and correlated SLA with mean annual precipitation (MAP), mean annual temperature (MAT), soil nitrogen concentration (soil N), soil C:N and N mass . Climate accounts much more for SLA variation than soil variables for Stipa , Cleistogens and Carex . SLA of Stipa is negatively associated with MAP and soil N, while positively with MAT, but Cleistogenes and Carex show the opposite. For Leymus , soil N promotes SLA and accounts for largest fraction of SLA variation. Overall, SLA was positively correlated with N mass in semi-arid regions, but not significant in arid regions. The genus-dependent responses of SLA may have consequences on ecosystem functioning, thus may help to predict the community composition and ecosystem functions under future climate scenario. The finding of SLA- N mass trade-off and its susceptibility to precipitation will advance our understanding on plant resource use strategies.