Woody species in tropical dry forest exhibit plasticity in physiological traits in response to variations in soil properties

Abstract

Plasticity in physiological traits is necessary for the survival and development of woody species in the severe conditions of tropical dry forest We selected five study sites in a gradient of soil moisture availability located in dry forest of India We identified physiological traits viz relative water content RWC leaf dry matter content LDMC specific leaf area SLA leaf carbon concentration LCC leaf nitrogen concentration LNC leaf phosphorus concentration LPC chlorophyll concentration Chl stomatal conductance Gsmax photosynthetic rate Amax intrinsic water use efficiency WUEi biomass increment Bio Incr relative growth rate RGR which are considered important for the survival and growth of plant species in tropical dry forest and measured their range and plasticity in woody species including trees and shrubs across the selected study sites Further we analysed the response of physiological traits to variations in soil moisture content SMC across species as well as across study sites Across the five study sites the selected traits exhibited remarkable plasticity both within as well as among species The associations of physiological traits with soil properties were also significant The study shows that all physiological traits under study affect RGR directly or indirectly However the strength of effect is determined by environmental parameters particularly the SMC Step wise multiple regression indicates that more than variability in RGR can be explained by SLA and WUEi alone We suggest that for predicting the vulnerability of tropical dry forest communities to changes in climatic conditions further investigations examining trade offs among physiological traits and habitat conditions are needed nbsp nbsp