Characteristics of leaves, stems and roots of dominant trees in <italic>Larix </italic><italic>gmelinii</italic> forest in the cold temperate zone

Abstract

Plant functional traits and environmental changes and their adaptation mechanisms are hot topics in ecological research. Plant functional traits can reflect the adaptation of plants to different environmental conditions, fitness or productivity during long-term evolution. In this paper, the functional traits of the stems, leaves and roots of dominant woody plants in the Larix gmeliniii forest in the cold temperate zone were measured, and the environmental factors such as temperature, humidity, topography, soil and snow were measured simultaneously. The experimental results showed that the cold temperate zone, the leaf area and specific leaf area of L. gmelinii and Betula platyphylla have certain patterns|the biomass of annual branchlets of both trees is directly related to the average biomass of roots, and the biomass of annual branchlets of B. platyphylla and the snow water equivalent of the snow is directly related to the soil water content of 5–10 cm. The other environmental factors are not directly related to the annual branch biomass. The root traits of the Rododendron-L. gmelinii forest are not only directly related to other plant traits (such as leaves and stems), but also directly related to external environmental factors. It is indirectly affected by environmental factors such as soil temperature, soil water content, soil carbon-nitrogen ratio and altitude.