Aridity-Driven Non-Linear Shift of Plant Sodium Allocation Strategy at Regional and Global Scales

IF 6.3 1区环境科学与生态学 Q1 ECOLOGY

Global Ecology and Biogeography Pub Date : 2025-03-20 DOI:10.1111/geb.70025

Hongbo Guo, Jiahui Zhang, Xiaoyan Kang, Cong Yu, Nianpeng He

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引用次数: 0

Abstract

Aim

Plants allocate sodium (Na) to leaves and roots as an adaptation to salinity and drought, potentially modulating herbivory and ecosystem carbon cycling. However, large-scale spatial patterns and environmental drivers of plant Na allocation remain unclear.

Location

China and the world.

Time Period

Field data were collected between 2013 and 2019. Literature data were collected between 1970 and 2024.

Major Taxa Studied

Vascular plants.

Methods

We compiled a global database of paired leaf Na (Na_Leaf) and root Na (Na_Root) content, combining field observations from 2183 species across 72 Chinese ecosystems with globally synthesised literature records.

Results

The spatial pattern of plant Na allocation between leaves and roots is primarily regulated by aridity. Generally, plants allocate more Na to roots in humid zones but more to leaves in arid zones. Furthermore, aridification leads to abrupt and non-linear increases in the Na_Leaf to Na_Root ratio (Na_Leaf:Root) when aridity exceeds the critical threshold (0.814 for the Chinese plant species and 0.774 for the Chinese plant community). Importantly, the threshold response is consistently observed from species to community levels and from China to global biomes.

Main Conclusions

Our findings demonstrate the flexible allocation of plant Na in response to salinity and drought on a large scale. Projected aridification could amplify leaf Na allocation in threshold-exceeding regions, possibly enhancing the activity of herbivores and decomposers and triggering cascading impacts on plant community structure and carbon cycling rate.

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干旱驱动的植物钠分配策略在区域和全球尺度上的非线性变化

植物将钠（Na）分配给叶片和根系，以适应盐度和干旱，可能调节草食和生态系统的碳循环。然而，植物钠分配的大尺度空间格局和环境驱动因素尚不清楚。

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

Global Ecology and Biogeography 环境科学-生态学

CiteScore

12.10

自引率

3.10%

发文量

170

审稿时长

3 months

期刊介绍： Global Ecology and Biogeography (GEB) welcomes papers that investigate broad-scale (in space, time and/or taxonomy), general patterns in the organization of ecological systems and assemblages, and the processes that underlie them. In particular, GEB welcomes studies that use macroecological methods, comparative analyses, meta-analyses, reviews, spatial analyses and modelling to arrive at general, conceptual conclusions. Studies in GEB need not be global in spatial extent, but the conclusions and implications of the study must be relevant to ecologists and biogeographers globally, rather than being limited to local areas, or specific taxa. Similarly, GEB is not limited to spatial studies; we are equally interested in the general patterns of nature through time, among taxa (e.g., body sizes, dispersal abilities), through the course of evolution, etc. Further, GEB welcomes papers that investigate general impacts of human activities on ecological systems in accordance with the above criteria.