Response of Leaf Traits of Eastern Qinghai-Tibetan Broad-Leaved Woody Plants to Climatic Factors.

ABSTRACT: Plant ecologists have long been interested in quantifying how leaf traits vary with climate factors, but there is a paucity of knowledge on these relationships given a large number of the relevant leaf traits and climate factors to be considered. We examined the responses of 11 leaf traits (including leaf morphology, stomatal structure and chemical properties) to eight common climate factors for 340 eastern Qinghai-Tibetan woody species. We showed temperature as the strongest predictor of leaf size and shape, stomatal size and form, and leaf nitrogen and phosphorus concentrations, implying the important role of local heat quantity in determining the variation in the cell- or organ-level leaf morphology and leaf biochemical properties. The effects of moisture-related climate factors (includ

SUBMITTER: Kang X 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC8363248 | biostudies-literature | 2021

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature