Intraspecific Fine-Root Trait-Environment Relationships across Interior Douglas-Fir Forests of Western Canada.

ABSTRACT: Variation in resource acquisition strategies enables plants to adapt to different environments and may partly determine their responses to climate change. However, little is known about how belowground plant traits vary across climate and soil gradients. Focusing on interior Douglas-fir (Pseudotsuga menziesii var. glauca) in western Canada, we tested whether fine-root traits relate to the environment at the intraspecific level. We quantified the variation in commonly measured functional root traits (morphological, chemical, and architectural traits) among the first three fine-root orders (i.e., absorptive fine roots) and across biogeographic gradients in climate and soil factors. Moderate but consistent trait-environment linkages occurred across populations of Douglas-fir, despite high lev

SUBMITTER: Defrenne CE 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC6681360 | biostudies-literature | 2019 Jun

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature