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Abstract

Environmental heterogeneity influences plant growth and trait expression across natural habitats, particularly where soil moisture, fertility, salinity, and climatic conditions vary over short geographical distances. In this study, morphological and root anatomical variation in Digitaria ciliaris obtained from fourteen habitats was studied. The sites represented various ecological zones in Pakistan such as montane habitats, agricultural lowland habitats, Pothohar Plateau habitats, Salt Range habitats and Soon Valley habitats. One-way ANOVA, correlation analysis, principal component analysis, redundancy analysis and heatmap clustering were employed to evaluate the physicochemical properties of soil, morphological traits of plants, and root anatomical characters. Significant differences in soil moisture, organic matter, pH, electrical conductivity, and concentrations of major ions between sites were observed. Populations growing in relatively fertile and moisture-rich habitats had greater shoot and root biomass, longer shoots and roots, and large leaf area. On the other hand, the populations growing in soils with high pH, electrical conductivity, sodium, and chloride had less morphological growth. Root anatomical characters also varied among habitats. Tissue thickness of epidermis, cortex, and sclerenchyma was correlated to the edaphically stressful habitats, while aerenchyma development was mostly seen in moisture-rich habitats. The multivariate analyses discriminated the populations based on fertility, salinity, and moisture gradients, showing a relationship between soil and plant characters. In conclusion, D. ciliaris exhibited site-related morphological and root anatomical variability in ecologically heterogeneous habitats.

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