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Variation and association of leaf traits of desert plants in the arid area, northwest China
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  • Hongyong Wang,
  • Jie Yang,
  • Tingitng Xie,
  • Li Ma,
  • Lishan Shan
Hongyong Wang
Gansu Agricultural University

Corresponding Author:[email protected]

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Jie Yang
Pingliang Institute of Soil and Water Conservation Science
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Tingitng Xie
Gansu Agricultural University
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Li Ma
Gansu Agricultural University
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Lishan Shan
Gansu Agricultural University
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Abstract

Characterizing variation and association of plant traits is critical for understanding plant adaptation strategies and community-building mechanisms. However, little is known about the variation in leaf traits and the association between traits in desert plants of different life types. We used principal components analysis, Pearson’s correlation, phylogenetic independent contrasts, linear mixed model, and variance decomposition to explore the variation and association of ten leaf traits in 22 desert plants in the arid area. Our results showed that: (1) Interspecific variation in leaf traits contributed more to total variation than intraspecific variation. (2) Intraspecific and interspecific variation in leaf traits were different among different life forms, except for some traits that showed intraspecific variation higher than interspecific in some functional types, other traits with interspecific variation higher than intraspecific variation. (3) Desert plants have a one-dimensional leaf economic spectrum, in which shrubs are a fast acquisitive resource strategy, and herbs are a conservative resource strategy. (4) There were trade-offs between leaf traits, which were influenced by phylogeny. Our results suggest that variation of leaf traits mainly comes from interspecific variation, but intraspecific variation cannot be ignored. In addition, species with different life forms will adopt different ecological strategies to adapt to arid habitats. Therefore, we should study the variation and association of plant traits according to different functional types, in the future.
10 Oct 2022Submitted to Ecology and Evolution
12 Oct 2022Submission Checks Completed
12 Oct 2022Assigned to Editor
20 Oct 2022Reviewer(s) Assigned
08 Nov 2022Review(s) Completed, Editorial Evaluation Pending
28 Nov 2022Editorial Decision: Revise Minor
19 Jan 20231st Revision Received
08 Feb 2023Submission Checks Completed
08 Feb 2023Assigned to Editor
08 Feb 2023Review(s) Completed, Editorial Evaluation Pending
23 Feb 2023Editorial Decision: Revise Minor
06 Mar 20232nd Revision Received
07 Mar 2023Review(s) Completed, Editorial Evaluation Pending
07 Mar 2023Submission Checks Completed
07 Mar 2023Assigned to Editor
13 Mar 2023Editorial Decision: Accept