Root Hydraulic Traits Predict the Growth Performance of Perennial Forbs on the Loess Plateau of China

IF 3.6 2区农林科学 Q2 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES

Land Degradation & Development Pub Date : 2025-03-09 DOI:10.1002/ldr.5567

Shaomin Fu, Chunjing Xu, Xinyao Han, Qindi Zhang, Zongshan Li

{"title":"Root Hydraulic Traits Predict the Growth Performance of Perennial Forbs on the Loess Plateau of China","authors":"Shaomin Fu, Chunjing Xu, Xinyao Han, Qindi Zhang, Zongshan Li","doi":"10.1002/ldr.5567","DOIUrl":null,"url":null,"abstract":"The traits of root xylem play important roles in plants through the provision of structural support, nutrient uptake, and water transport. However, the relationship between root hydraulic traits and plant growth performance in drylands remains unclear. In this study, the growth performance and hydraulic traits of 35 perennial forbs on the Loess Plateau were obtained through field surveys and xylem anatomy experiments. The results revealed that plant growth performance was significantly correlated with xylem anatomical traits. The vessel fraction (VF), mean vessel area (MVA), theoretical hydraulic conduction diameter (Dh), and mean water transfer efficiency (MKp) increased with the age of perennial forbs. Higher Dh, MVA, and MKp were observed to increase the growth rates and the heights of main stems, which were virtually unaffected by the vessel number (NV). Since MVA, Dh, MKp, and NV were important for the growth rate, hydraulic traits were more reliable predictors of the growth rate. This study revealed that the hydraulic traits of taproots significantly influenced plant growth performance, especially in drylands. Further, we highlighted the relationships between the hydraulic traits of roots and plant growth performance, which provided insights into survival strategies and management strategies for vegetation growth in water-limited regions.","PeriodicalId":203,"journal":{"name":"Land Degradation & Development","volume":"54 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":3.6000,"publicationDate":"2025-03-09","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":"0","resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":null,"PeriodicalName":"Land Degradation & Development","FirstCategoryId":"97","ListUrlMain":"https://doi.org/10.1002/ldr.5567","RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"农林科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":null,"EPubDate":"","PubModel":"","JCR":"Q2","JCRName":"ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES","Score":null,"Total":0}

引用次数: 0

Abstract

The traits of root xylem play important roles in plants through the provision of structural support, nutrient uptake, and water transport. However, the relationship between root hydraulic traits and plant growth performance in drylands remains unclear. In this study, the growth performance and hydraulic traits of 35 perennial forbs on the Loess Plateau were obtained through field surveys and xylem anatomy experiments. The results revealed that plant growth performance was significantly correlated with xylem anatomical traits. The vessel fraction (VF), mean vessel area (MVA), theoretical hydraulic conduction diameter (Dh), and mean water transfer efficiency (MKp) increased with the age of perennial forbs. Higher Dh, MVA, and MKp were observed to increase the growth rates and the heights of main stems, which were virtually unaffected by the vessel number (NV). Since MVA, Dh, MKp, and NV were important for the growth rate, hydraulic traits were more reliable predictors of the growth rate. This study revealed that the hydraulic traits of taproots significantly influenced plant growth performance, especially in drylands. Further, we highlighted the relationships between the hydraulic traits of roots and plant growth performance, which provided insights into survival strategies and management strategies for vegetation growth in water-limited regions.

查看原文本刊更多论文

求助全文

约1分钟内获得全文求助全文

来源期刊

Land Degradation & Development 农林科学-环境科学

CiteScore

7.70

自引率

8.50%

发文量

379

审稿时长

5.5 months

期刊介绍： Land Degradation & Development is an international journal which seeks to promote rational study of the recognition, monitoring, control and rehabilitation of degradation in terrestrial environments. The journal focuses on: - what land degradation is; - what causes land degradation; - the impacts of land degradation - the scale of land degradation; - the history, current status or future trends of land degradation; - avoidance, mitigation and control of land degradation; - remedial actions to rehabilitate or restore degraded land; - sustainable land management.