Climate variability supersedes grazing to determine the anatomy and physiology of a dominant grassland species.

ABSTRACT: Grassland ecosystems are historically shaped by climate, fire, and grazing which are essential ecological drivers. These grassland drivers influence morphology and productivity of grasses via physiological processes, resulting in unique water and carbon-use strategies among species and populations. Leaf-level physiological responses in plants are constrained by the underlying anatomy, previously shown to reflect patterns of carbon assimilation and water-use in leaf tissues. However, the magnitude to which anatomy and physiology are impacted by grassland drivers remains unstudied. To address this knowledge gap, we sampled from three locations along a latitudinal gradient in the mesic grassland region of the central Great Plains, USA during the 2018 (drier) and 2019 (wetter) growing seasons.

SUBMITTER: Bachle S 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC8858925 | biostudies-literature | 2022 Feb

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature