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273 results for “leaf traits”
Climate-induced plasticity in leaf traits of riparian plants
<p><strong>Aim:</strong> Leaf inputs from riparian vegetation and its decomposition play a key role in energy and nutrients transfer in many stream ecosystems. Instream leaf-litter decomposition is mainly driven by leaf traits. Therefore, understanding and predicting leaf traits variation with current environmental changes and its putative effects on stream food webs is a critical challenge. Most studies have focused on the assumed higher interspecific leaf traits variability, with little research addressing an intraspecific perspective.</p> <p><strong>Location:</strong> Andalusia, Spain</p> <p><strong>Methods:</strong> We assessed the relative effects of climate and soil on the intraspecific variability in leaf traits of four common woody riparian species in permanent low-order Mediterranean streams along a wide aridity gradient. We used a space-for-time substitution approach to predict leaf traits changes and consequences for stream food webs in a future climate change scenario.</p> <p><strong>Results:</strong> We found that climate had a major influence on intraspecific variability of leaf traits, but with opposite patterns depending on plant functional type. Results indicated that leaf quality—linked to palatability and decomposability—of Alnus glutinosa, Salix atrocinerea and Rubus ulmifolius (deciduous/semideciduous) will decrease with the forecasted aridification, whereas that of the evergreen Nerium oleander will increase.</p> <p><strong>Main conclusions:</strong> Our findings suggest a decrease of intraspecific leaf-quality in riparian deciduous species with global warming in a relatively short term, which, in a longer term, may add to the forecasted dieback of deciduous species in riparian corridors of temperate climate zones. These forecasted changes have the potential to significantly impair ecosystem functioning of Mediterranean mountain streams currently under deciduous gallery forests.</p>
Broad- and small-scale environmental gradients drive variation in chemical, but not morphological, leaf traits of vascular epiphytes
<p>Variation in leaf functional traits along environmental gradients can reveal how vascular epiphytes respond to broad- and small-scale environmental gradients. Along elevational gradients, both temperature and precipitation likely play an important role as drivers of leaf trait variation, but these traits may also respond to small-scale changes in light, temperature, and humidity along the vertical environmental gradient within forest canopies. However, the relative importance of broad- and small-scale environmental gradients as drivers of variation in leaf functional traits of vascular epiphytes is poorly understood. Here, we examined variation in morphological and chemical leaf traits of 102 vascular epiphyte species spanning two environmental gradients along Cofre de Perote mountain in Mexico: i) a broad-scale environmental gradient approximated by elevation as well as by species' lower and upper elevational limits, and ii) small-scale environmental gradients using the relative height of attachment of an epiphyte on a host tree as a proxy for variation in environmental conditions within the forest canopy. We also assessed whether variation in morphological and chemical leaf traits along these gradients were consistent across photosynthetic pathways (CAM and C<sub>3</sub>). Broad- and small-scale environmental gradients explained more variation in chemical traits (marginal R2: 11-89%) than in morphological traits (marginal R2: 2-31%). For example, leaf carbon isotope signatures (δ<sup>13</sup>C), which reflects water-use efficiency, varied systematically across both environmental gradients, suggesting a decrease in water-use efficiency with increasing lower and upper elevational limits and an increase in water-use efficiency with relative height of attachment. The influence of lower and upper elevational limits on trait variation differed between photosynthetic pathways, except for leaf dry matter content and leaf nitrogen-to-phosphorus ratio. Contrary to our expectations, broad- and small-scale environmental gradients explained minimal variation in morphological leaf traits, suggesting that environmental conditions do not constrain morphological leaf trait values of vascular epiphytes. Our findings suggest that assessing multiple drivers of leaf trait variation among photosynthetic pathways is key for disentangling the mechanisms underlying responses of vascular epiphytes to environmental conditions.</p>
Data set for: Leaf trait association in relation to herbivore defense, drought resistance, and economics in a tropical invasive plant
<p><strong><span>Premsie</span></strong><span>: </span><span>Exploring how functional traits vary and covary is important to understand plant responses to environmental change. However, we have limited understanding of the ways multiple functional traits vary and covary within invasive species.</span></p> <p><strong><span>Methods</span></strong><span>:</span> <span>We measured 12 leaf traits of an invasive plant <em>Chromolaena odorata</em>, associated with plant or leaf economics, herbivore defense, and drought resistance on 10 introduced populations from Asia and 12 native populations from America, selected across a broad range of climatic conditions, and grown in a common garden</span><span>.</span></p> <p><strong><span>Results</span></strong><span>: </span><span>Species'</span> <span>range and climatic conditions influenced leaf traits, but trait variation across climate space differed between the introduced and native ranges. Traits that confer defense against herbivores and drought resistance were associated with economic strategy, but the patterns differed by range. Plants from introduced populations that were at the fast-return end of the spectrum (high photosynthetic capacity) had high physical defense traits (high trichome density), whereas plants from native populations that were at the fast-return end of the spectrum had high drought escape traits (early leaf senescence and high percentage of withered shoots).</span></p> <p><strong> <span>Conclusions</span></strong><span>:</span> <span>Our results indicate that invasive plants can rapidly adapt to novel environmental conditions. <em>C. odorata</em> showed multiple different functional trait covariation patterns and clines in the native and introduced ranges. Our results emphasize that interaction between multiple traits or functions should be considered when investigating the adaptive evolution of invasive plants.</span></p>
Leaf trait covariation and controls on leaf mass per area (LMA) following cotton domestication
<p class="MsoNormal"><span>The process of domestication has driven dramatic shifts in plant functional traits including leaf mass per area (LMA). It remains unclear whether domestication has produced concerted shifts in the lower-level anatomical traits that underpin LMA and how these traits in turn affect photosynthesis. </span><span>In this study, we investigated controls of LMA and leaf gas exchange by leaf anatomical properties at the cellular, tissue and whole leaf levels, comparing 26 wild and 31 domesticated genotypes of cotton </span><span>(<em>Gossypium</em>). </span><span>As expected, domesticated plants expressed lower LMA, higher photosynthesis and stomatal conductance</span><span>, suggesting a shift towards the 'faster' end of the leaf economics spectrum. At whole-leaf level, variation in LMA was predominantly determined by leaf density (LD) both in wild and domesticated genotypes. At tissue level, higher leaf volume per area (<em>V</em><sub>leaf</sub>) in domesticated genotypes was driven by a simultaneous increase in the volume of epidermal, mesophyll and vascular bundle tissue and airspace, while lower LD resulted from a dilution effect of lower increased volume of palisade tissue and vascular bundle of high mass density by higher increased volume of epidermis and airspace of low mass density. The volume of spongy mesophyll exerted direct control on photosynthesis in domesticated genotypes but only indirect control in wild genotypes. At cellular level, a shift to larger but less numerous cells with thinner cell walls underpinned a lower proportion of cell wall mass, and thus a reduction in LD. </span><span>Taken together, cotton domestication has triggered synergistic shifts in the underlying determinants of LMA but also photosynthesis, at cell, tissue and whole-leaf level, resulting in a marked shift in plant ecological strategy.</span></p>
Data from: Trading water for carbon in the future: effects of elevated CO2 and warming on leaf hydraulic traits in a semiarid grassland
<p class="MsoNormal"><a name="_Hlk96844723"></a><span>The effects of climate change on plants and ecosystems are mediated by plant hydraulic traits, including interspecific and intraspecific variability of trait phenotypes. Yet, integrative and realistic studies of hydraulic traits and climate change are rare. In a semiarid grassland, we assessed the response of several plant hydraulic traits to elevated CO<sub>2</sub> (+200 ppm) and warming (+1.5</span><span><span> to </span></span><span><span>3</span></span><span><span>℃;</span></span><span><span> day to night). For leaves of five dominant species (three graminoids, two forbs), and in replicated plots exposed to seven years of elevated CO<sub>2</sub>, warming, or ambient climate, we measured: stomatal density and size, xylem vessel size, turgor loss point, and water potential (pre-dawn). Interspecific differences in hydraulic traits were larger than intraspecific shifts induced by elevated CO<sub>2</sub> and/or warming. Effects of elevated CO<sub>2</sub> were greater than effects of warming, and interactions between treatments were weak or not detected. The forbs showed little phenotypic plasticity. The graminoids had leaf water potentials and turgor loss points that were 10 to 50% less negative under elevated CO<sub>2</sub>; thus, climate change might cause these species to adjust their drought resistance strategy away from tolerance and toward avoidance. The C4 grass also reduced allocation of leaf area to stomata under elevated CO<sub>2</sub>, which helps explain observations of higher soil moisture. The shifts in hydraulic traits under elevated CO<sub>2</sub> were not, however, simply due to higher soil moisture. Integration of our results with others' indicates that common species in this grassland are more likely to adjust stomatal aperture in response to near-term climate change, rather than anatomical traits; this contrasts with apparent effects of changing CO<sub>2</sub> on plant anatomy over evolutionary time. Future studies should assess how plant responses to drought may be constrained by the apparent shift from tolerance (via low turgor loss point) to avoidance (via stomatal regulation and/or access to deeper soil moisture).</span></span></p>
Age and phenology control photosynthesis and leaf traits in the understory woody species, Rhamnus cathartica and Prunus serotina
<p>Dataset contains leaf physiological variables and leaf traits from Rhamnus cathartica (buckthorn) and Prunus serotina (Black cherry) measured in Summer 2019 at Macalester College's Ordway Field Station. All data were collected on understory individuals from 4 sites within the forest in late May and early July, 2019. We sampled from 'tree' individuals and seedlings of both species. All methods and measurement protocols are published in Heskel et al. 2022 in <em>AoB-PLANTS</em>, currently in revision.</p> <p>Data includes: <br> Vcmax (umol m2-s-1)</p> <p>Jmax (umol m2-s-1)</p> <p>Fv/Fm (no units)</p> <p>Leaf Stomatal Density (stomata mm-2)</p> <p>Dark respiration (umol m2-s-1)</p> <p>Asat (umol m2-s-1)</p> <p>A400 (umol m2-s-1)</p> <p>Carbon Gain Efficiency (CGE, no units)</p> <p>CGE_400 (CGE at 400 PAR, no units)</p> <p>Leaf Mass per Are (LMA, g m-2)</p> <p> </p>
Bamboo climatic tolerances are decoupled from leaf functional traits across an Andean elevation gradient
Widespread changes in temperature and precipitation patterns present plant species with new and combined stresses that affect their performance and distribution. Functional traits are indicators of plant resource use-acquisition strategies and thus they are commonly used to understand the geographic distributions of plant species and species' potential responses to climate change. To date, most studies have targeted a few easy-to-measure leaf traits even though other traits, such as climatic tolerances, could provide valuable information directly related with species' current and future distributions. Here, we measured both leaf functional traits and indices of physiological tolerance to heat (T50) and drought (Cell Membrane Stability) in 28 woody bamboo populations from 22 narrow-ranged species along a > 3000 m elevation gradient in the southern Peruvian Andes. We found that bamboo leaf functional traits remain fairly constant with a combination indicative of an acquisitive strategy (low leaf mass area and high nitrogen per mass) along the elevation gradient, despite drastic changes in environment and fast species turnover. Heat and drought tolerances of bamboos varied widely along the gradient and were negatively correlated to each other. Drought tolerance of bamboo populations was positively related with elevation and with precipitation seasonality while heat tolerance decreased at higher, colder elevations. When analyzed for individuals within each species or for individuals within each elevation, the two metrics of climatic tolerances did not show a consistent relationship, contrasting with the expectation of a potential trade-off between heat and drought tolerance. We also found that the measured leaf functional traits were not good predictors of climatic tolerances. Our results illustrate the diversity and complexity of the relationships between functional strategies and environmental gradients and highlight the limitations of using basic (i.e., "soft") leaf traits to understand plant distributions and climatic tolerances.
Leaf traits predict water‐use eficiency in U.S. Pacific Northwest grasslands under rain exclusion treatment
<p>Does drought stress in temperate grasslands alter the relationship between plant structure and function? Here we report data from an experiment focusing on growth form and species traits that affect the critical functions of water‐ and nutrient‐use efficiency in prairie and pasture plant communities. A total of 139 individuals of 12 species (11 genera and four families) were sampled in replicated plots maintained for three years across a 520-km latitudinal gradient in the Pacific Northwest, USA. Rain exclusion did not alter the interspecific relationship between foliar traits and stoichiometry or intrinsic water‐use efficiency (iWUE). Rain exclusion reduced iWUE in grasses, and effect was primarily species‐specific, although leaf morphology, life history strategy, and phylogenetic distance predicted iWUE for all 12 species when analyzed together. Variation in specific leaf area explained most of the variation in iWUE between different functional groups, with annual forbs and annual grasses at opposite ends of the resource‐use spectrum. Our findings are consistent with expected trait‐driven tradeoffs between productivity and resource‐use efficiency and provide insight into strategies for the sustainable use and conservation of temperate grasslands.</p>
Data from: Genetic variation in growth and leaf traits associated with local adaptation to climate in yellow birch (Betula alleghaniensis Britton)
<p>Understanding patterns of variation in functional traits of hardwood trees is crucial for conserving and managing North American temperate forests under climate change. This study examined provenance variation of yellow birch (<em>Betula alleghaniensis</em> Britton) in growth, biomass allocation, leaf morphology, and stable carbon isotope composition. Trees were grown from ten seed sources originating from across Canada and the northern USA. Height and diameter were not significantly related to climate at seed origin, suggesting that variation may be better explained by site factors, such as soil pH and soil moisture. In contrast, carbon isotope composition and leaf morphological traits were significantly correlated to climate variables including temperature, precipitation, and solar radiation. Provenances from warmer, drier localities tended to have higher stable carbon isotope ratio (δ<sup>13</sup>C), greater specific leaf area, and narrower leaf width than their counterparts from cooler, wetter climates. Thus, variation in leaf morphological traits appears to be involved in adaptation of yellow birch to variation in temperature and moisture availability across the species' range. Our results suggest that there may exist potential for selection and breeding of drought resistant yellow birch genotypes to aid in reforestation under climate change. </p>
Data from: Leaf morphological traits show greater responses to changes in climate than leaf physiological traits and gas exchange variables
<p>Adaptation to changing conditions is one of the strategies plants use to survive climate change. Here, we ask whether plants' leaf morphological and physiological traits/gas exchange variables have changed in response to recent, anthropogenic climate change. We grew seedlings from resurrected historic seeds from <em>ex-situ </em>seed banks and paired modern seeds in a common-garden experiment. Species pairs were collected from regions that had undergone differing levels of climate change using an emerging framework – Climate Contrast Resurrection Ecology, allowing us to hypothesise that regions with greater changes in climate (including temperature, precipitation, climate variability and climatic extremes) there would be greater trait responses in leaf morphology and physiology over time. Our found that in regions where there were greater changes in climate, there were greater changes in average leaf area, leaf margin complexity, leaf thickness and leaf intrinsic water use efficiency. Changes in leaf roundness, photosynthetic rate, stomatal density and the leaf economic strategy of our species were not correlated with changes in the climate. Our results show that leaves do have the ability to respond to changes in climate, however, there are greater inherited responses in morphological leaf traits than in physiological traits/variables, and greater responses to extreme measures of climate than gradual changes in climatic means. It is vital for accurate predictions of species' responses to impending climate change to ensure that future climate change ecology studies utilise knowledge about the difference in both leaf trait and gas exchange responses, and the climate variables that they respond to.</p>
Data from: Environmental conditions differently shape leaf, seed and seedling trait composition between and within elevations of tropical montane forests
<p>The composition of plant functional traits varies in response to environmental conditions due to processes of community assembly and species sorting. However, there is a lack of understanding of how plant trait composition responds to environmental conditions at different spatial scales and across the plant life cycle. We investigated the trait composition of leaves (specific leaf area), seeds (seed mass) and seedlings (initial seedling height) across elevations and within elevations in relation to soil and light conditions in a tropical montane forest in southern Ecuador. We surveyed traits and communities of adult trees, seeds and seedlings on nine plots at three elevations (1000-3000 m a.s.l.) and calculated community-weighted mean trait values to analyse trait variation across and within elevations. In addition, we measured two environmental factors (soil C/N ratio and canopy openness) to quantify local-scale variation in environmental conditions within elevations. We found that community-weighted means of specific leaf area, seed mass and initial seedling height decreased consistently with increasing elevation. Within elevations, mean trait values of trees, seeds and seedlings responded differently to local-scale environmental conditions. Specific leaf area decreased with increasing soil C/N ratio, and initial seedling height decreased with increasing canopy openness. Seed mass was associated neither with soil nor with light conditions. Our findings show that broad-scale and local-scale processes differently shape the composition of leaf, seed and seedling traits in tropical forests, indicating a scale-dependence in trait-environment associations. Furthermore, plant traits corresponding to different life stages were related differently to environmental conditions within elevations. Community assembly processes may therefore lead to differences in species sorting at early and late plant life stages.</p>
FIGURE 3 in Leaf trait data of two Miocene floras from eastern China and its palaeoclimate implications
FIGURE 3. Distribution of the leaf size classes in the Toupi flora and Shengxian flora.
Linking individual and species-level leaf traits with ontogenetic development stage to explain tree performance under competition and environmental contexts
<p><span>To verify how species traits and individual traits link ontogenetic size, external biotic and abiotic factors to influence tree performance. In a temperate natural forest in northeastern China, we measured dynamic performance, size, as well as competition, topography, and soil variables as biotic and abiotic variables for all 1320 trees of 17 species in 62 monitoring plots from 2010-2020. For each individual tree, we also measured five typical functional traits representing leaf size and elemental content: leaf area, specific leaf area, leaf dry matter content, leaf nitrogen content, and leaf carbon : nitrogen ratios. These traits are not only strongly associated with performance, but trade-offs between traits have previously been shown to express plant acquisitive-conservative strategy characteristics. Reconceptualized based on previous understanding of trait-based approach (Fig. 1). We first tested the direct explanatory effects of species traits and individual traits on performance in multifactorial contexts.</span> <span>We first tested the direct explanatory effects of species traits and individual traits on performance in multifactorial contexts. Subsequently, we analyzed the moderating and mediating effects of these two levels of traits in explaining ontogenetic size, external competition, and environmental influences on performance. The following three questions were posed in response to the results:</span></p> <p><em><span>QI: Do species and individual traits differ in directly explaining performance in a multifactor context that includes ontogenetic size, external biotic and abiotic factors?</span></em></p> <p><em><span>QII: How species and individual traits explain the effect of ontogenetic size on performance</span> </em><em><span>by moderating and mediating effects.</span></em></p> <p><em><span>QIII: Can traits at the species and individual level influence competition- and environment-performance relationships</span> </em><em><span>through trait-based approaches? Does ontogenetic size work jointly with traits at different levels in this process?</span></em></p>
Large seeds provide an intrinsic growth advantage that depends on leaf traits and root allocation
<p>Seed mass and growth rate are important dimensions of plant ecological diversity, but their relationship remains unresolved. Negative relationships between relative growth rate (RGR) and seed mass are well established. However, RGR is size-dependent, so small-seeded species might achieve fast growth simply because they are initially small.</p> <p>Using a dataset of unprecedented size, sampling 382 grass species, we investigated seed mass and growth rate using both RGR and SGR (RGR at a specific size), accounting for diversity in phylogeny, ecology (e.g. life history, photosynthetic pathway) and environment (mean annual temperature and precipitation).</p> <p>RGR and SGR showed contrasting relationships with seed mass, such that large-seeded species had lower RGR but higher SGR than small-seeded species. However, the relationship between SGR and seed mass depended on leaf dry matter content (LDMC), and was only positive in high-LDMC species. When compared at a common size, the fast growth of large-seeded and low-LDMC species was associated with greater biomass allocation to roots in the hot, high-light environment used for our experiment. Photosynthetic pathway and life history contributed to variation in SGR, with C4 annuals having higher SGRs than C3 perennials regardless of seed size.</p> <p>Large seeds therefore afford an intrinsic growth advantage in species with resource-conserving leaf traits, and may provide a competitive edge in resource-poor environments. This work advances understanding of how seed mass and growth rate coevolve with other ecological factors.</p>
Quantitative trait locus mapping reveals an independent genetic basis for joint divergence in leaf function, life-history, and floral traits between scarlet monkeyflower (Mimulus cardinalis) populations
<p><b>PREMISE </b></p> <p>Across taxa, vegetative and floral traits that vary along a fast-slow life-history axis are often correlated with leaf functional traits arrayed along the leaf economics spectrum, suggesting a constrained set of adaptive trait combinations. Such broad-scale convergence may arise from genetic constraints imposed by pleiotropy (or tight linkage) within species, or from natural selection alone. Understanding the genetic basis of trait syndromes and their components is key to distinguishing these alternatives and predicting evolution in novel environments.</p> <p><b>METHODS </b></p> <p>We used a line-cross approach and quantitative trait locus (QTL) mapping to characterize the genetic basis of twenty leaf functional/physiological, life history, and floral traits in hybrids between annualized and perennial populations of scarlet monkeyflower (<i>Mimulus cardinalis</i>).</p> <p><b>RESULTS </b></p> <p>We mapped both single and multi-trait QTLs for life history, leaf function and reproductive traits, but found no evidence of genetic co-ordination across categories. A major QTL for three leaf functional traits (thickness, photosynthetic rate, and stomatal resistance) suggests that a simple shift in leaf anatomy may be key to adaptation to seasonally dry habitats.</p> <p><b>CONCLUSIONS </b></p> <p>Our results suggest that the co-ordination of resource-acquisitive leaf physiological traits with a fast life history and more selfing mating system results from environmental selection rather than functional or genetic constraint. Independent assortment of distinct trait modules, as well as a simple genetic basis to leaf physiological traits associated with drought escape, may facilitate adaptation to changing climates. </p>
Variation in plant leaf traits affects transmission and detectability of herbivore vibrational cues
<p>Many insects use plant-borne vibrations to obtain important information about their environment, such as where to find a mate or a prey, or when to avoid a predator. Plant species can differ in the way they vibrate, possibly affecting the reliability of information, and ultimately the decisions that are made by animals based on this information. We examined whether the production, transmission and possible perception of plant-borne vibrational cues is affected by variation in leaf traits. We recorded vibrations of 69 <i>Spodoptera exigua</i> caterpillars foraging on four plant species that differed widely in their leaf-traits (cabbage, beetroot, sunflower and corn). We carried out a transmission and an airborne noise absorption experiment to assess whether leaf traits influence amplitude and frequency characteristics, and background noise levels of vibrational-chewing cues. Our results reveal that species-specific leaf traits can influence transmission and potentially perception of herbivore-induced chewing vibrations. Experimentally-induced vibrations attenuated stronger on plants with thicker leaves. Amplitude and frequency characteristics of chewing vibrations measured near a chewing caterpillar were, however, not affected by leaf traits. Furthermore, we found a significant effect of leaf area, water content and leaf thickness - important plant traits against herbivory, on the vibrations induced by airborne noise. On larger leaves higher amplitude vibrations were induced, whereas on thicker leaves containing more water airborne noise induced higher peak frequencies. Our findings indicate that variation in leaf traits can be important for the transmission and possibly detection of vibrational cues.</p>
How detritivores, plant traits and time modulate coupling of leaf versus woody litter decomposition rates across species
<p>1. Plant functional traits are increasingly used to understand ecological relationships and (changing) ecosystem functions. For understanding ecosystem-level biogeochemistry, we need to understand how (much) traits co-vary between different plant organs across species, and its implications for litter decomposition. However, we do not know how the degree of synchronous variation in decomposition rates between organs across species could be influenced by different keystone invertebrates decomposing different senesced plant organs, especially in warm-climate forests. Here we asked whether interspecific patterns in wood and leaf decomposition rates and in the spectra of resource economics traits underpinning them, co-vary across woody species; and how (much) the keystone invertebrate decomposers of the litter of these organs enhance or lower such co-variation of decomposition rates through time. </p> <p>2. We addressed these questions through an 18-month "common-garden" decomposition experiment using leaf, twig and branch litter of 41 woody species in two distant subtropical forest sites in east China. We quantified the effects of leaf, twig, and branch functional traits and their respective key invertebrates (moth larvae, termites) on the decomposition rates of those organs. </p> <p>3. Interspecific variation in wood traits was partly decoupled from that in leaf traits across species, while strong coupling was found between twigs and branches. The co-variation between leaf and woody organ decomposition rates was altered dynamically through the shifting activities of the key decomposers, which created non-linear relationships of invertebrate litter consumption as a function of species rankings along the resource economic trait spectra of leaves and branches.</p> <p>4. The deviations from coupling of decomposition rates between organs were likely caused by combinations of three mechanisms: (1) (de-)coupling between organs of other traits, not commonly considered in resource economics spectra (e.g., resins) (2) leaf and wood decomposers having specific diet requirements, and (3) temporal patterns of the decomposers' activity.</p> <p>5. Synthesis. Our study highlights the importance of considering the different ways by which invertebrate detritivores drive decomposition processes through time. Under the ongoing biodiversity decline, future research would benefit from a better understanding of the role of the dynamic interactions between detritivore activities and plant functional traits on the carbon turnover in ecosystems.</p>
Data for the article: Coupling of leaf elemental traits with root fungal community composition reveals a plant resource acquisition strategy in a desert ecosystem
<p><em>Purpose</em>: Plant-associated microbes enhance nutrient access and stress tolerance of the host species, and therefore, are crucial for plant traits and resource strategies. However, the links between aboveground plant traits and belowground microbes related to plant resource strategies under stressful conditions remain poorly understood.</p> <p><em>Methods</em>: We tested the relationships between leaf traits linked to water (carbon isotopic composition, δ<sup>13</sup>C) and nutrient use (elemental concentrations and stoichiometry) with microbial compositions in roots and rhizospheres of two dominant species (<em>Artemisia ordosica</em> and <em>Leymus secalinus</em>) in the Mu Us Desert, northern China.</p> <p><em>Results</em>: <em>L. secalinus</em> exhibited higher Mg and Mn concentrations, N:P ratios, stoichiometric flexibility, and root fungi:bacteria ratios, but lower foliar K and Ca concentrations and δ<sup>13</sup>C values than <em>A. ordosica</em>. The leaf N:P of <em>L. secalinus</em> increased with the root fungi:bacteria ratios, whereas the leaf N:P of <em>A. ordosica</em> decreased with the root fungi:bacteria ratios. The plant elemental levels (P, N, K, Ca, Mn, and δ<sup>13</sup>C) of <em>L. secalinus</em> but not <em>A. ordosica</em> were significantly related to their root fungal composition. Additionally, the random forest model identified four key fungal families in predicting leaf elemental traits for both plant species.</p> <p><em>Conclusion</em>: The results suggested tight coupling and coordination between leaf elemental traits and root microbial compositions (especially fungal communities) related to plant resource acquisition strategies. By regulating aboveground and belowground feedback loops through trait flexibility and root microbial compositions, the studied plant species can sustain their resource strategies under stressful environmental conditions.</p>
Lianas rapidly colonize early stages of tropical forests, presumably through leaf trait diversification
<p><strong>Questions</strong>: Ecological succession is the process during which ecosystems recover after disturbances. Studies investigating community re-assembly during tropical forest succession have rarely compared lianas to trees. We addressed two questions: (1) How do changes in stem density, total basal area, and species richness of lianas and trees compare throughout a secondary succession, and to what extent does the relative basal area of lianas change along a secondary succession? (2) How do the successional trajectories of functional community trait values of lianas and trees compare?</p> <p><strong>Location</strong>: Yoko forest reserve, central Congo basin.</p> <p><strong>Methods</strong>: Using univariate Bayesian modeling techniques, we analyzed differences in successional pathways between lianas and trees in terms of community structure, and functional assembly in a replicated chronosequence spanning from young to old-growth forests.</p> <p><strong>Results</strong>: We found divergent structural trajectories between lianas and trees along the forest chronosequence. The stem density of lianas peaked at the intermediate stage, while that of trees almost linearly decreased from the early to late stages of succession. The basal area of lianas increased at a higher rate than that of trees, which translated into a marginal increase of liana relative basal area over succession. On the contrary, we observed a lower rate of increase in species richness for lianas than trees over succession. We found a progressive convergence in the responses of lianas and trees to changes with succession in terms of specific leaf area and leaf nitrogen content, but a diverging response in terms of leaf phosphorus content. These functional composition patterns most probably resulted from environmental filtering, induced by a change from nitrogen to phosphorus limitation as the succession progressed to mature forest. </p> <p><strong>Conclusions</strong>: These findings underscore the rapid colonization of tropical forests by lianas after agricultural abandonment, presumably by deploying a more diverse leaf economic spectrum early in succession.</p>
Leaf decomposition, flammability and functional trait data for tropical swamp forest tree species
<p>Decomposition and fire are major carbon pathways in many ecosystems, yet the contribution of species identity to these processes can be difficult to predict. Plant decomposability and flammability have usually been studied separately but could be linked through shared predictive traits. We explored how decomposability and flammability were related to each other and to key plant functional traits in a tropical swamp forest in Singapore.</p> <p>Full methodological details <em>in situ</em> decomposition experiment in Nee Soon freshwater swamp forest, Singapore, laboratory flammability experiment, and leaf functional trait measurements can be found in the published article and supporting information stated below.</p> <p>Nur E. B. Rahman, Stuart W. Smith, Weng Ngai Lam, Kwek Yan Chong, Matthias S. E. Chua, Pei Yun Teo, Daniel W. J. Lee, Shi Yu Phua, Cheryl Y. Aw, Janice S. H. Lee, David A. Wardle. Leaf decomposition and flammability are largely decoupled across species in a tropical swamp forest despite sharing some predictive leaf functional traits. <em>New Phytologist</em></p> <p>In this data repository, we have uploaded the following decomposition, flammability and trait data as well as secondary data used in our statistical analyses to generate the findings presented in the paper. Specific datasets include the following:</p> <ul> <li>litter_mass_loss.csv : raw data of leaf litterbag dry masses before and after 1 year in situ decomposition experiment in Nee Soon Swamp Forest</li> <li>flammability_leaf_temperature.csv : raw data of temperature recorded during flammability experiments of leaf litter and fresh leaves</li> <li>flammability_timings.csv : raw data of timings of flammability events, namely smouldering and pyrolysis recorded from video footage of flammability experiments</li> <li>senesced_leaf_dryweights_area.csv : senesced leaf raw data for calculating physical traits</li> <li>senesced_leaf_dryweights.csv: senesced leaf dry weights raw data</li> <li>freshtraits_measurements.csv: fresh leaf raw data for calculating physical traits</li> <li>decomposition_constants.csv: derived decomposition constants (k) for each species from the analysis of decomposition experiments.</li> <li>functional_traits_z_standardized.csv : all traits required for the analysis, consolidated following z-standardized transformation</li> <li>functional_traits_untransformed_decomposition_flammability.csv : all traits required for the analysis, untransformed (for back transforming axis labels) and species decomposition and flammability variables</li> </ul> <p>Raw leaf litter mass loss and leaf flammability data are associated meta-data file explaining the column headers and variables. For all other datasets please refer to the paper and supporting information.</p>
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Allen Brain Atlas
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ABODe is a University of Edinburgh DataShare dataset for behavior classification in group-housed mice using home-cage video, identities, bounding boxes, ground-plate positions, and annotator labels.
DANDI Archive for NWB datasets
DANDI is a BRAIN Initiative archive for publishing and sharing neurophysiology data, including electrophysiology, optophysiology, and behavioral data packaged as NWB and related standards.
International Brain Laboratory public data
The International Brain Laboratory public data releases expose standardized mouse decision-making experiments, including Neuropixels recordings, widefield calcium imaging, behavior, and session metadata accessed through the ONE API.
OpenNeuro
OpenNeuro is a free, open platform for sharing neuroimaging datasets, with public search, dataset pages, and download paths for web, S3, DataLad, and the OpenNeuro CLI.