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Ke Y, Zhang FP, Zhang YB, Li W, Wang Q, Yang D, Zhang JL, Cao KF. Convergent relationships between flower economics and hydraulic traits across aquatic and terrestrial herbaceous plants. Plant Divers 2023; 45:601-610. [PMID: 37936818 PMCID: PMC10625894 DOI: 10.1016/j.pld.2023.01.006] [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] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/18/2022] [Revised: 01/14/2023] [Accepted: 01/17/2023] [Indexed: 11/09/2023]
Abstract
Maintaining open flowers is critical for successful pollination and depends on long-term water and carbon balance. Yet the relationship between how flower hydraulic traits are coordinated in different habitats is poorly understood. Here, we hypothesize that the coordination and trade-offs between floral hydraulics and economics traits are independent of environmental conditions. To test this hypothesis, we investigated a total of 27 flower economics and hydraulic traits in six aquatic and six terrestrial herbaceous species grown in a tropical botanical garden. We found that although there were a few significant differences, most flower hydraulics and economics traits did not differ significantly between aquatic and terrestrial herbaceous plants. Both flower mass per area and floral longevity were significantly positively correlated with the time required for drying full-hydrated flowers to 70% relative water content. Flower dry matter content was strongly and positively related to drought tolerance of the flowers as indicated by flower water potential at the turgor loss point. In addition, there was a trade-off between hydraulic efficiency and the construction cost of a flower across species. Our results show that flowers of aquatic and terrestrial plants follow the same economics spectrum pattern. These results suggest a convergent flower economics design across terrestrial and aquatic plants, providing new insights into the mechanisms by which floral organs adapt to aquatic and terrestrial habitats.
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Affiliation(s)
- Yan Ke
- CAS Key Laboratory of Tropical Forest Ecology, Xishuangbanna Tropical Botanical Garden, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Mengla, Yunnan 666303, China
- University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100049, China
| | - Feng-Ping Zhang
- College of Traditional Chinese Medicine, Yunnan University of Chinese Medicine, Kunming, Yunnan 650500, China
| | - Yun-Bing Zhang
- CAS Key Laboratory of Tropical Forest Ecology, Xishuangbanna Tropical Botanical Garden, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Mengla, Yunnan 666303, China
- University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100049, China
| | - Wei Li
- School of Biological and Chemical Sciences, Puer University, Puer, Yunnan 665000, China
| | - Qin Wang
- CAS Key Laboratory of Tropical Forest Ecology, Xishuangbanna Tropical Botanical Garden, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Mengla, Yunnan 666303, China
- University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100049, China
| | - Da Yang
- CAS Key Laboratory of Tropical Forest Ecology, Xishuangbanna Tropical Botanical Garden, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Mengla, Yunnan 666303, China
| | - Jiao-Lin Zhang
- CAS Key Laboratory of Tropical Forest Ecology, Xishuangbanna Tropical Botanical Garden, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Mengla, Yunnan 666303, China
| | - Kun-Fang Cao
- State Key Laboratory for Conservation and Utilization of Subtropical Agro-bioresources, Guangxi Key Laboratory of Forest Ecology and Conservation, Guangxi University, Daxuedong Road 100, Nanning, Guangxi 530004, China
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