Abstract
Salvia ceratophylloides (Ard.) is an endemic and rare plant species recently rediscovered as very few individuals at two different Southern Italy sites. The study of within-plant variation is fundamental to understand the plant adaptation to the local conditions, especially in rare species, and consequently to preserve plant biodiversity. Here, we reported the variation of the morpho-ecophysiological and metabolic traits between the sessile and petiolate leaf of S. ceratophylloides plants at two different sites for understanding the adaptation strategies for surviving in these habitats. The S. ceratophylloides individuals exhibited different net photosynthetic rate, maximum quantum yield, light intensity for the saturation of the photosynthetic machinery, stomatal conductance, transpiration rate, leaf area, fractal dimension, and some volatile organic compounds (VOCs) between the different leaf types. This within-plant morpho-physiological and metabolic variation was dependent on the site. These results provide empirical evidence of sharply within-plant variation of the morpho-physiological traits and VOCs profiles in S. ceratophylloides, explaining the adaptation to the local conditions.
Highlights
Salvia ceratophylloides Ard. is a perennial herbaceous species endemic to Southern Calabria, Italy, which was declared extinct in 1997 [1] and recently rediscovered a hundred mature individuals distributed in two sites, 2 Km apart, around the Reggio Calabria hills [2,3]
Plants 2021, 10, 474 showed a higher Isat (1578 μmol(photon) m−2 s−1), Imax (766 μmol(photon) m−2 s−1), PNmax (11.22 μmol(CO2) m−2 s−1) and φ(I0−Icomp) (0.030 μmol(CO2) μmol(photon) −1) level than petiolate ones which showed a lower dark respiration rate (RD) (0.69 μmol(CO2) m−2 s−1). This pattern was observed in both sites except for the PNmax, which was statistically different between the two leaf types in relation to the site (p < 0.05 Leaf Type (LT) × Sit interaction, Table 1): the petiolate leaves (6.85 μmol(CO2) m−2 s−1) showed a lower value of PNmax respect to the sessile ones (19.70 μmol(CO2) m−2 s−1) at Mo site
The significant LT × Sit interaction observed for the Icomp and RD indicated that the parameters difference between nts 2021, 10, x FOR PEER REVIEW
Summary
Salvia ceratophylloides Ard. is a perennial herbaceous species endemic to Southern Calabria, Italy, which was declared extinct in 1997 [1] and recently rediscovered a hundred mature individuals distributed in two sites, 2 Km apart, around the Reggio Calabria hills [2,3]. No quantitative information on the morphological and ecophysiological traits of S. ceratophylloides are available, they are pivotal for understanding the habitat requirements for the conservation of the endemic species. The viability of endangered and rare species, such as S. ceratophylloides, depends on their capability to maintain or even increase their fitness under short- and/or long-term continuous climate change. This endemic species usually pointed out specific and narrow habitat requirements suggesting that their responses must occur only in the actual habitat determining local adaptation through phenotypic plasticity and/or genetic variation [6]
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