Complementary Strategies of Hydraulic Variability and Conservative Stomatal Regulation Enable Widespread Distributions in a Heterogeneous Karst Landscape.

ABSTRACT: Karst ecosystems display pronounced elevational heterogeneity driven by steep water and soil gradients, fostering niche differentiation as a biodiversity maintenance mechanism. While hydraulic trait divergence underpins such distribution patterns, certain species thrive across diverse microhabitats. Intraspecific variability in drought-resistant hydraulic traits may enable such broad-niche species to exploit habitat heterogeneity, but whether it is a key mechanism in karst ecosystems is unclear. Specifically, locally widespread species lacking hydraulic variability may compensate through conservative stomatal regulation to maintain hydraulic safety, thereby colonizing extreme arid hilltops. For three widespread woody species in a tropical karst forest (Delavaya toxocarpa, Tirpitz

SUBMITTER: Wang X 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC12711600 | biostudies-literature | 2025 Dec

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature