Ecophysiological Leaf Traits of Forty-Seven Woody Species under Long-Term Acclimation in a Botanical Garden.

Qinglin Sun,Yuanrun Zheng,Liming Lai,Xin Liu,Jihua Zhou

doi:10.3390/plants11060725

Abstract

Ex situ conservation plays an important role in the conservation and utilization of plant resources. In recent years, botanical gardens have greatly improved the ex situ conservation of plants, and research has mainly focused on morphological characteristics, reproduction technology, and conservation value. There are few studies on the ecophysiological traits of plants after conservation. Forty-seven plants that are frequently used in North China and were grown in the Beijing Botanic Garden were selected to measure their photosynthetic traits, light-use efficiency (LUE), water–use efficiency (WUE), specific leaf area (SLA), relative chlorophyll content (SPAD), and leaf water potential (φ). An analysis of variance showed that there were significant differences in the ecophysiological traits of the leaves of 47 woody species. The light saturation point (LSP), net photosynthetic rate at light saturation (Pnmax), φ, and SLA had significant differences among different plant life forms. The SLA and SPAD of leaves were significantly different among the families. The LUE of all species reached its maximum under a low light intensity, and species with a large difference between the light saturation point and light compensation point had larger Pnmax values. This research further adds to the understanding of the adaptation mechanisms of plants to the environment under the conditions of a botanical garden as well as the environmental fitness in a long-term ex situ domestication and then helps with scientifically setting up artificial management conditions.

Highlights

Received: 23 January 2022In recent years, affected by global climate change and an intensification of human activities, many plants have been in a state of endangered extinction, leading to a loss of biodiversity [1]
Taking a garden as the example to study the ecophysiological traits of species under artificial planting and conservation conditions, and based on parameters from the lightresponse curve, light-energy and water-use efficiency, physiological water traits, specific leaf area (SLA), and relative chlorophyll content (SPAD), we aimed to answer the following questions: (a) what are the differences in the ecophysiological indicators of different woody species in the same environment; and (b) how did ecophysiological traits change across different plant life forms and families?
The species conserved in the Beijing Botanical Garden had obvious differences in terms of the apparent quantum efficiency (AQY), light compensation point (LCP), light saturation point (LSP), Pnmax, Rd, φ, SPAD, SLA, WUEmax, and LUEmax values, which indicated that, these species were in similar environments for conservation, they had obvious differences in terms of ecophysiological strategies and were adapted to similar environments

Summary

Introduction

Received: 23 January 2022In recent years, affected by global climate change and an intensification of human activities, many plants have been in a state of endangered extinction, leading to a loss of biodiversity [1]. As an important measure to save plant species, ex situ conservation is an important part of biodiversity protection and is the basis for the return of rare and endangered plants to their natural habitats, the restoration and reconstruction of wild populations, and the guaranteeing of original materials, which play pivotal roles in conservation and utilization [4,5]. Botanical gardens are an important part of ex situ conservation, are important for the protection of living plants, and they play important roles in environmental beautification, cultural leisure, and climate regulation [6]. The plants grown in botanical gardens are different from those in the wild environment and are usually under artificial management and conservation conditions; the grounds are often carefully mulched, weeded, fertilized, water irrigated, and free of pests.

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