Abstract
Understanding the variation in stomatal characteristics in relation to climatic gradients can reveal the adaptation strategies of plants, and help us to predict their responses to future climate changes. In this study, we investigated stomatal density (SD) and stomatal length (SL) in 150 plant species along an elevation gradient (540–2357 m) in Changbai Mountain, China, and explored the patterns and drivers of stomatal characteristics across species and plant functional types (PFTs: trees, shrubs, and herbs). The average values of SD and SL for all species combined were 156 mm–2 and 35 µm, respectively. SD was higher in trees (224 mm–2) than in shrubs (156 mm–2) or herbs (124 mm–2), and SL was largest in herbs (37 µm). SD was negatively correlated with SL in all species and PFTs (P<0.01). The relationship between stomatal characteristics and elevation differed among PFTs. In trees, SD decreased and SL increased with elevation; in shrubs and herbs, SD initially increased and then decreased. Elevation-related differences in SL were not significant. PFT explained 7.20–17.6% of the total variation in SD and SL; the contributions of CO2 partial pressure (), precipitation, and soil water content (SWC) were weak (0.02–2.28%). Our findings suggest that elevation-related patterns of stomatal characteristics in leaves are primarily a function of PFT, and highlight the importance of differences among PFTs in modeling gas exchange in terrestrial ecosystems under global climate change.
Highlights
Stomata, small pores on the surfaces of plant leaves and stalks, act as turgoroperated valves in controlling the exchange of gases between plant tissues and the atmosphere [1, 2]
The mean values and ranges of stomatal density (SD) and stomatal length (SL) for the 150 observed plant species are presented in Fig. 1; both SD and SL were positively skewed, and the variation in SD was larger than that in SL
SD decreased and SL increased with increasing elevation, while SD showed non-linear relationships to elevation in shrubs and herbs, no clear patterns were observed among all species
Summary
Small pores on the surfaces of plant leaves and stalks, act as turgoroperated valves in controlling the exchange of gases (e.g., water vapor and CO2) between plant tissues and the atmosphere [1, 2]. The morphology, distribution, and behavior of stomata vary in response to environmental changes on timescales from moments to millennia [3]. Stomatal morphology and distribution are controlled primarily by genetic characteristics and phenotypic plasticity, reflecting long-term adaptations of plant species to their growth environment. Stomatal behaviors (opening and closing) are short-term responses to environmental changes [2, 4]. Stomatal density (SD) and size, which are relatively stable, are better characteristics for understanding the adaptation or response of plant species to changing environmental conditions at large spatial scales
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