AI Article Synopsis

  • The study investigates how leaf traits (like specific leaf area and leaf dry matter content) correlate within species of plants in the dry Chaco forest of Central Argentina, focusing on intraspecific variability rather than environmental factors.
  • Analysis revealed negative correlations among certain leaf trait pairs, supporting the idea of an acquisitive-conservative axis, which suggests a trade-off between resource investment and growth potential.
  • Differences in covariation patterns among species were observed, indicating that while some trends are consistent, others are species-specific, emphasizing the complexity of leaf trait interactions within the same species.

Article Abstract

Background And Aims: The acquisitive-conservative axis of plant ecological strategies results in a pattern of leaf trait covariation that captures the balance between leaf construction costs and plant growth potential. Studies evaluating trait covariation within species are scarcer, and have mostly dealt with variation in response to environmental gradients. Little work has been published on intraspecific patterns of leaf trait covariation in the absence of strong environmental variation.

Methods: We analysed covariation of four leaf functional traits [specific leaf area (SLA) leaf dry matter content (LDMC), force to tear (Ft) and leaf nitrogen content (Nm)] in six Poaceae and four Fabaceae species common in the dry Chaco forest of Central Argentina, growing in the field and in a common garden. We compared intraspecific covariation patterns (slopes, correlation and effect size) of leaf functional traits with global interspecific covariation patterns. Additionally, we checked for possible climatic and edaphic factors that could affect the intraspecific covariation pattern.

Key Results: We found negative correlations for the LDMC-SLA, Ft-SLA, LDMC-Nm and Ft-Nm trait pairs. This intraspecific covariation pattern found both in the field and in the common garden and not explained by climatic or edaphic variation in the field follows the expected acquisitive-conservative axis. At the same time, we found quantitative differences in slopes among different species, and between these intraspecific patterns and the interspecific ones. Many of these differences seem to be idiosyncratic, but some appear consistent among species (e.g. all the intraspecific LDMC-SLA and LDMC-Nm slopes tend to be shallower than the global pattern).

Conclusions: Our study indicates that the acquisitive-conservative leaf functional trait covariation pattern occurs at the intraspecific level even in the absence of relevant environmental variation in the field. This suggests a high degree of variation-covariation in leaf functional traits not driven by environmental variables.

Download full-text PDF

Source
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC9113165PMC
http://dx.doi.org/10.1093/aob/mcaa198DOI Listing

Publication Analysis

Top Keywords

trait covariation
16
leaf functional
16
acquisitive-conservative axis
12
leaf trait
12
functional traits
12
intraspecific covariation
12
leaf
11
covariation
9
intraspecific patterns
8
field common
8

Similar Publications

The Co-Occurrence of Vestibular/Ocular Motor Provocation and State Anxiety in Adolescents and Young Adults with Concussion.

J Neurotrauma

December 2024

Department of Health, Human Performance and Recreation/Office for Sport Concussion Research, University of Arkansas, Fayetteville, Arkansas, USA.

Vestibular/ocular motor provocation and state anxiety are both independently linked to poor recovery outcomes following concussion. However, the relationship between these two clinical presentations and their co-occurring effects on concussion recovery outcomes is understudied. The purpose was to examine the co-occurring effects of vestibular/ocular motor provocation and state anxiety following concussion.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Circadian misalignment and disrupted rest-activity rhythms have been linked to adverse health and educational outcomes, yet few studies have considered their relationships with economic outcomes. We investigate associations between multiple accelerometer-measured circadian misalignment traits (Composite Phase Deviation and the Sleep Regularity Index) and rest-activity rhythm traits (Inter-daily Stability, Intra-daily variability and relative amplitude), with occupational attainment, measured using the average wage paid to an individual's occupation. We use data from 20 356 UK Biobank participants who wore an accelerometer (2013-16), provided employment data for the year they wore the accelerometer, and supplied covariate data at recruitment (2006-10).

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Several toxic metals have been associated with metabolic diseases like obesity and diabetes mellitus (DM) in humans. However, knowledge regarding the influence of many trace elements, especially in combination with essential elements is limited. This study aims to address this research gap by investigating the associations of both non-essential and essential inorganic trace elements in urine with DM and obesity, employing a group of postmenopausal women (n = 851) from the Korean Genome and Epidemiology Study (KoGES) cohort.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Gait visual scores are widely applied to horse breeding because they are a fast and easy phenotyping strategy, allowing the numeric interpretation of a complex biological process such as gait quality. However, they may suffer from subjectivity or high environmental influence. We aimed to investigate potential causal relationships among six visual gait scores in Campolina horses.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Aim: Although the association between personality and health has been well documented, the interaction between personality and health risk factors is understudied. This study examined (i) the relationship between the Big Five model of personality and subjective well-being and (ii) the buffering effect of social support on the relationship between personality and subjective well-being among Japanese older adults.

Methods: The participants were 1265 adults aged 65-84 (499 men, 766 women).

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Want AI Summaries of new PubMed Abstracts delivered to your In-box?

Enter search terms and have AI summaries delivered each week - change queries or unsubscribe any time!