Herbivory legacy modifies leaf economic spectrum and drought tolerance in two tree species.

IF 2.3 2区 环境科学与生态学 Q2 ECOLOGY
Guillermo G Gordaliza, José Carlos Miranda García-Rovés, Rosana López, Ismael Aranda, Luis Gil, Ramón Perea, Jesús Rodríguez-Calcerrada
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引用次数: 0

Abstract

The concurring effect of herbivory by wild ungulates and drought events is experiencing a notable increase in Mediterranean and temperate forests. While many studies have addressed the influence of drought on plant susceptibility to herbivory, it appears crucial to comprehend the impact of prolonged browsing on the physiological response of plants to increasing water deficit. To this end, we analyzed the effect of long-term recurrent herbivory by ungulates on physiological, biochemical, anatomical and morphological variables of Ilex aquifolium and Fagus sylvatica saplings during the growing seasons of 2018 and 2019 in a mixed sub-Mediterranean forest. We compared plants growing within an exclosure fence since 2006 (unbrowsed) with plants growing outside (browsed) that were also fenced during the study to investigate herbivory legacy. Twelve years of herbivory pressure modified significantly plant functional performance. Independently of the species, browsed plants showed higher root-to-shoot ratio, stem cross-sectional area-to-leaf area ratio, predawn leaf water potential, leaf nitrogen concentration and leaf gas exchange rates than unbrowsed plants. Moreover, browsed plants had lower leaf bulk modulus of elasticity, and higher osmotic potential at full turgor and turgor loss point. Thus, herbivory modified the leaf economic spectrum towards a more resource-acquisitive and less water stress tolerant type. These results suggest that, once browsing has subsided, plants continue to reflect some legacy effects that make them more vulnerable to further abiotic and biotic stresses, which has implications for forest regeneration.

草食遗传改变了两种树种的叶片经济谱和耐旱性。
在地中海和温带森林中,野生有蹄类食草动物和干旱事件的共同影响正在显著增加。虽然许多研究已经解决了干旱对植物对草食敏感性的影响,但了解长时间的浏览对植物对水分缺乏增加的生理反应的影响似乎至关重要。本研究以亚地中海混交林为研究对象,分析了2018年和2019年生长季有蹄类动物长期反复草食对水合冬青(Ilex aquifolium)和柴木(Fagus sylvatica)幼树生理生化、解剖形态等指标的影响。我们比较了自2006年以来生长在围栏内的植物(未被浏览)和生长在围栏外的植物(已被浏览),这些植物在研究期间也被围栏,以调查食草性遗产。12年的草食胁迫显著改变了植物的功能性能。在不同种类植物中,被浏览植物的根冠比、茎截面积与叶面积比、黎明前叶片水势、叶片氮浓度和叶片气体交换率均高于未被浏览的植物。此外,啃食植物叶片的体积弹性模量较低,在满胀和胀损点的渗透势较高。因此,草食改良了叶片经济谱,使其向资源获取性更强、耐水分胁迫能力更弱的类型发展。这些结果表明,一旦浏览活动减少,植物继续反映一些遗留效应,使它们更容易受到进一步的非生物和生物压力,这对森林再生有影响。
本文章由计算机程序翻译,如有差异,请以英文原文为准。
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来源期刊
Oecologia
Oecologia 环境科学-生态学
CiteScore
5.10
自引率
0.00%
发文量
192
审稿时长
5.3 months
期刊介绍: Oecologia publishes innovative ecological research of international interest. We seek reviews, advances in methodology, and original contributions, emphasizing the following areas: Population ecology, Plant-microbe-animal interactions, Ecosystem ecology, Community ecology, Global change ecology, Conservation ecology, Behavioral ecology and Physiological Ecology. In general, studies that are purely descriptive, mathematical, documentary, and/or natural history will not be considered.
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