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- Title
Nitrogen-fixing and non-nitrogen-fixing legume plants differ in leaf nutrient concentrations and relationships between photosynthetic and hydraulic traits.
- Authors
Xiao, Yan; Yang, Da; Zhang, Shu-Bin; Mo, Yu-Xuan; Dong, Yi-Yi; Wang, Ke-Fei; He, Ling-Yun; Dong, Bing; Dossa, Gbadamassi G O; Zhang, Jiao-Lin
- Abstract
Legumes account for a significant proportion of plants in the terrestrial ecosystems. Nitrogen (N)-fixing capability of certain legumes is a pivotal trait that contributes to their ecological dominance. Yet, the functional traits and trait relationships between N-fixer and non-N-fixer legumes are poorly understood. Here, we investigated 27 functional traits associated with morphology, nutrients, hydraulic conductance and photosynthesis in 42 woody legumes (19 N-fixers and 23 non-N-fixers) in a common garden. Our results showed that N-fixers had higher specific leaf area, photosynthetic phosphorus (P)-use efficiency, leaf N, and iron concentrations on both area and mass basis, N/P ratio, and carbon (C) to P ratio, but lower wood density, area-based maximum photosynthetic rate (A a), photosynthetic N-use efficiency, leaf mass- and area-based P and molybdenum and area-based boron concentrations, and C/N ratio, compared with non-N-fixers. The mass-based maximum photosynthetic rate (A m), stomatal conductance (g s), intrinsic water-use efficiency (WUEi), mass- and area-based leaf potassium and mass-based boron concentrations, leaf hydraulic conductance (K leaf), and whole-shoot hydraulic conductance (K shoot) showed no difference between N-fixers and non-N-fixers. Significant positive associations between all hydraulic and photosynthetic trait pairs were found in N-fixers, but only one pair (K shoot– A a) in non-N-fixers, suggesting that hydraulic conductance plays a more important role in mediating photosynthetic capacity in N-fixers compared with non-N-fixers. Higher mass-based leaf N was linked to lower time-integrated g s and higher WUEi among non-N-fixer legumes or all legumes pooled after phylogeny was considered. Moreover, mass-based P concentration was positively related to A m and g s in N-fixers, but not in non-N-fixers, indicating that the photosynthetic capacity and stomatal conductance in N-fixers were more dependent on leaf P status than in non-N-fixers. These findings expand our understanding of the trait-based ecology within and across N-fixer and non-N-fixer legumes in tropics.
- Subjects
FOLIAGE plants; LEGUMES; WATER efficiency; WOOD density; PHOTOSYNTHETIC rates; LEAF area
- Publication
Tree Physiology, 2024, Vol 44, Issue 5, p1
- ISSN
0829-318X
- Publication type
Article
- DOI
10.1093/treephys/tpae048