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Baird AS, Taylor SH, Reddi S, Pasquet-Kok J, Vuong C, Zhang Y, Watcharamongkol T, John GP, Scoffoni C, Osborne CP, Sack L. Allometries of cell and tissue anatomy and photosynthetic rate across leaves of C 3 and C 4 grasses. Plant Cell Environ 2024; 47:156-173. [PMID: 37876323 DOI: 10.1111/pce.14741] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/25/2023] [Revised: 06/26/2023] [Accepted: 10/09/2023] [Indexed: 10/26/2023]
Abstract
Allometric relationships among the dimensions of leaves and their cells hold across diverse eudicotyledons, but have remained untested in the leaves of grasses. We hypothesised that geometric (proportional) allometries of cell sizes across tissues and of leaf dimensions would arise due to the coordination of cell development and that of cell functions such as water, nutrient and energy transport, and that cell sizes across tissues would be associated with light-saturated photosynthetic rate. We tested predictions across 27 globally distributed C3 and C4 grass species grown in a common garden. We found positive relationships among average cell sizes within and across tissues, and of cell sizes with leaf dimensions. Grass leaf anatomical allometries were similar to those of eudicots, with exceptions consistent with the fewer cell layers and narrower form of grass leaves, and the specialised roles of epidermis and bundle sheath in storage and leaf movement. Across species, mean cell sizes in each tissue were associated with light-saturated photosynthetic rate per leaf mass, supporting the functional coordination of cell sizes. These findings highlight the generality of evolutionary allometries within the grass lineage and their interlinkage with coordinated development and function.
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Affiliation(s)
- Alec S Baird
- Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, University of California Los Angeles, Los Angeles, California, USA
| | - Samuel H Taylor
- Lancaster Environment Centre, Lancaster University, Lancaster, UK
| | - Sachin Reddi
- Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, University of California Los Angeles, Los Angeles, California, USA
| | - Jessica Pasquet-Kok
- Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, University of California Los Angeles, Los Angeles, California, USA
| | - Christine Vuong
- Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, University of California Los Angeles, Los Angeles, California, USA
| | - Yu Zhang
- Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, University of California Los Angeles, Los Angeles, California, USA
| | - Teera Watcharamongkol
- Department of Animal and Plant Sciences, University of Sheffield, Sheffield, UK
- Faculty of Science and Technology, Kanchanaburi Rajabhat University, Kanchanaburi, Thailand
| | - Grace P John
- Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, University of California Los Angeles, Los Angeles, California, USA
- Department of Biology, University of Florida, Gainesville, Florida, USA
| | - Christine Scoffoni
- Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, University of California Los Angeles, Los Angeles, California, USA
- Department of Biological Sciences, California State University Los Angeles, Los Angeles, California, USA
| | - Colin P Osborne
- Department of Animal and Plant Sciences, University of Sheffield, Sheffield, UK
| | - Lawren Sack
- Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, University of California Los Angeles, Los Angeles, California, USA
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Liu C, Li Y, Zhang J, Baird AS, He N. Optimal Community Assembly Related to Leaf Economic- Hydraulic-Anatomical Traits. Front Plant Sci 2020; 11:341. [PMID: 32269584 PMCID: PMC7109333 DOI: 10.3389/fpls.2020.00341] [Citation(s) in RCA: 16] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/14/2019] [Accepted: 03/06/2020] [Indexed: 05/02/2023]
Abstract
Multi-dimensional trait mechanisms underlying community assembly at regional scales are largely unclear. In this study, we measured leaf economic, hydraulic and anatomical traits of 394 tree species from tropical to cold temperate forests, from which we calculated the leaf trait moments (mean, variance, skewness, and kurtosis) using community-weighted methods. Economic and hydraulic traits were decoupled at the species level, but coupled at the community level, and relationships between leaf traits in observed communities were stronger than that in null communities, suggesting that the adaptive mechanisms of plant species may be different. Furthermore, leaf economic traits were distributed more evenly across species occupying communities with lower temperature and precipitation, whereas hydraulic traits were distributed more evenly under lower water availability. This suggests that limiting similarity of specific leaf traits within communities would be enhanced when related-resources are limited, and highlights the independent assembly of leaf economics and hydraulic traits in terms of functional evenness. Importantly, the moments of leaf economic and hydraulic traits of observed communities explained more variation in ecosystem productivity than that of null communities, indicating ecosystem productivity depended on trait-based community assembly. Our results highlight the principles of community assembly regarding multi-dimensionsional traits in natural forests at a regional scale.
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Affiliation(s)
- Congcong Liu
- Key Laboratory of Ecosystem Network Observation and Modeling, Institute of Geographic Sciences and Natural Resources Research, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, China
- College of Resources and Environment, University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, China
| | - Ying Li
- Key Laboratory of Ecosystem Network Observation and Modeling, Institute of Geographic Sciences and Natural Resources Research, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, China
- The Key Laboratory for Forest Resources & Ecosystem Processes of Beijing, Beijing Forestry University, Beijing, China
| | - Jiahui Zhang
- Key Laboratory of Ecosystem Network Observation and Modeling, Institute of Geographic Sciences and Natural Resources Research, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, China
- College of Resources and Environment, University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, China
| | - Alec S. Baird
- Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, University of California, Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA, United States
| | - Nianpeng He
- Key Laboratory of Ecosystem Network Observation and Modeling, Institute of Geographic Sciences and Natural Resources Research, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, China
- College of Resources and Environment, University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, China
- Institute of Grassland Science, Northeast Normal University, and Key Laboratory of Vegetation Ecology, Ministry of Education, Changchun, China
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Baird AS, Anderegg LDL, Lacey ME, HilleRisLambers J, Van Volkenburgh E. Comparative leaf growth strategies in response to low-water and low-light availability: variation in leaf physiology underlies variation in leaf mass per area in Populus tremuloides. Tree Physiol 2017; 37:1140-1150. [PMID: 28379516 DOI: 10.1093/treephys/tpx035] [Citation(s) in RCA: 7] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/05/2016] [Accepted: 03/16/2017] [Indexed: 06/07/2023]
Abstract
Developmental phenotypic plasticity can allow plants to buffer the effects of abiotic and biotic environmental stressors. Therefore, it is vital to improve our understanding of how phenotypic plasticity in ecological functional traits is coordinated with variation in physiological performance in plants. To identify coordinated leaf responses to low-water (LW) versus low-light (LL) availability, we measured leaf mass per area (LMA), leaf anatomical characteristics and leaf gas exchange of juvenile Populus tremuloides Michx. trees. Spongy mesophyll tissue surface area (Asmes/A) was correlated with intrinsic water-use efficiency (WUEi: photosynthesis, (Aarea)/stomatal conductance (gs)). Under LW availability, these changes occurred at the cost of greater leaf tissue density and reduced expansive growth, as leaves were denser but were only 20% the final area of control leaves, resulting in elevated LMA and elevated WUEi. Low light resulted in reduced palisade mesophyll surface area (Apmes/A) while spongy mesophyll surface area was maintained (Asmes/A), with no changes to WUEi. These leaf morphological changes may be a plastic strategy to increase laminar light capture while maintaining WUEi. With reduced density and thickness, however, leaves were 50% the area of control leaves, ultimately resulting in reduced LMA. Our results illustrate that P. tremuloides saplings partially maintain physiological function in response to water and light limitation by inducing developmental plasticity in LMA with underlying anatomical changes. We discuss additional implications of these results in the context of developmental plasticity, growth trade-offs and the ecological impacts of climate change.
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Affiliation(s)
- Alec S Baird
- Department of Biology, University of Washington, Box 351800, Seattle, WA 98195, USA
| | - Leander D L Anderegg
- Department of Biology, University of Washington, Box 351800, Seattle, WA 98195, USA
| | - Melissa E Lacey
- Department of Biology, University of Washington, Box 351800, Seattle, WA 98195, USA
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