Yu Guangcan, Wang Yufang, Li Andi, Wang Senhao, Chen Jing, Mo Jiangming, Zheng Mianhai
Key Laboratory of Vegetation Restoration and Management of Degraded Ecosystems, Guangdong Provincial Key Laboratory of Applied Botany, South China Botanical Garden, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Guangzhou, China.
South China National Botanical Garden, Guangzhou, China.
Ecol Appl. 2025 Jan;35(1):e3082. doi: 10.1002/eap.3082.
Intercorrelated aboveground traits associated with costs and plant growth have been widely used to predict vegetation in response to environmental changes. However, whether underground traits exhibit consistent responses remains unclear, particularly in N-rich subtropical forests. Responses of foliar and root morphological and physiological traits of tree and herb species after 8-year N, P, and combined N and P treatments (50 kg N, P, N and P ha year) were examined in leguminous Acacia auriculiformis (AA) and nonleguminous Eucalyptus urophylla (EU) forests in southern China. N addition did not significantly impact all leaf and root traits except root N concentration per root length. Root traits responded to P addition more than leaf traits in trees; however, both traits responded similarly to P addition in herbs. Tree species deviated from the expected leaf economics spectrum; however, all species aligned with the root economics spectrum. The P and combined N and P treatments significantly altered the position of principal components analysis of root functional traits for herb species compared to the control. However, these changes did not reflect a classic shift in nutrient acquisition strategy within the root economics spectrum. As leguminous species experienced greater P limitation, AA responded more to P addition than EU; their understories indicated no significant differences. This study reveals how plant aboveground and underground traits adapt to nutrient-rich environments. These findings highlight the importance of incorporating plant underground traits, which show significant and specific responses to nutrient additions, into Earth system models for accurately predicting plant responses to global change.
与成本和植物生长相关的相互关联的地上性状已被广泛用于预测植被对环境变化的响应。然而，地下性状是否表现出一致的响应仍不清楚，特别是在富氮的亚热带森林中。在中国南方的豆科大叶相思（AA）林和非豆科尾叶桉（EU）林中，研究了8年施氮、磷以及氮磷组合处理（50 kg N、P、N和P·ha·年）后树木和草本植物的叶和根形态及生理性状的响应。除单位根长的根氮浓度外，施氮对所有叶和根性状均无显著影响。在树木中，根性状对施磷的响应比对叶性状的响应更大；然而，在草本植物中，这两种性状对施磷的响应相似。树种偏离了预期的叶经济谱；然而，所有物种都符合根经济谱。与对照相比，磷和氮磷组合处理显著改变了草本植物根功能性状主成分分析的位置。然而，这些变化并未反映出根经济谱内养分获取策略的典型转变。由于豆科物种经历了更大的磷限制，大叶相思对施磷的响应比尾叶桉更大；它们的林下植被没有显著差异。本研究揭示了植物地上和地下性状如何适应养分丰富的环境。这些发现强调了将对养分添加有显著和特定响应的植物地下性状纳入地球系统模型以准确预测植物对全球变化响应的重要性。
