Shift from acquisitive to conservative plant strategies with increasing drought and temperature extremes in an alpine shrub

作者：Dinesh Thakur, Nikita Rathore, Veronika Jandová, Zuzana Münzbergová, Jiří Doležal · 发表于：Annals of Botany · 年份：2025 · DOI：10.1093/aob/mcaf211 · 被引用次数：6 · 研究领域：Plant Water Relations and Carbon Dynamics、Tree Root and Stability Studies、Plant responses to water stress

BACKGROUND AND AIMS: Trait-based approaches have advanced our understanding of plant strategies; however, they often focus on leaf-level traits, overlooking the functional roles of stem anatomy and twig characteristics. We investigated intraspecific trait variation in Salix flabellaris, an alpine dwarf shrub, along climatic gradients in the Himalayas. Our goal was to identify distinct axes of trait variation related to stem, twig and leaf traits, assess their environmental drivers and evaluate population-specific growth responses to recent climate change. METHODS: We measured anatomical and morphological traits in stems, twigs and leaves across central and marginal populations along three Himalayan transects. Environmental gradients included variation in growing season temperature and soil moisture. Basal area increment from 2000 to 2021 was analysed to assess long-term growth trends in different areas. RESULTS: Trait dimensions were largely independent, reflecting distinct ecological strategies: (1) stem anatomical trade-off between hydraulic safety and conductivity; (2) twig dimension balancing construction costs and mechanical strength; and (3) leaf dimension along the exploitative-conservative axis. Higher temperatures enhanced performance, manifested as larger twigs and reduced tissue construction costs, but only in conditions with sufficient soil moisture. Central populations at mid-elevations displayed the favourable trait combinations and highest growth rates. In cont...