PJB-2020-323
Plant functional classifications based on leaf traits in a subtropical Karst landscape
Jiangming Ma, Yanhua Mo, Li Huang, Xiaomei Pan, Jing Huang and Haimiao Wang
Abstract
Plant functional classifications has recently attracted much attention from ecologists. However, assessment on plant functional classifications in the special area of Karst were still absent in the literature. Therefore, in this study, plant functional types were classified into typical evergreen shrubs and deciduous shrubs according to their leaf traits in the subtropical Karst landscape of south-western China. The aforementioned leaf traits included leaf dry weight (DW), leaf dry matter content (LDMC), leaf area (LA), leaf thickness (LT), specific leaf area (SLA), and leaf tissue density (LTD) for 16 kinds of evergreen shrubs and 10 kinds of deciduous shrubs. Results showed that DW and LT were the principle parameters for evergreen shrubs, while DW, LT, and LA were the principle parameters for deciduous shrubs in Karst. Interestingly, it both can be classified into two types either in evergreen shrubs or in deciduous shrubs. They could be termed as shade-tolerant type (with higher DW and LT in evergreen shrubs or higher DW, LT, and LA in deciduous shrubs) and heliophilic type. These results were beneficial to understanding the vegetation formation in Karst and were expected to provide some help for vegetation restoration strategies in this unique degraded ecosystem
To Cite this article:
Ma, J., Y. Mo, L. Huang, X. Pan, J. Huang and H. Wang. 2023. Plant functional classifications based on leaf traits in a subtropical karst landscape. Pak. J. Bot., 55(6): DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.30848/PJB2023-6(1)
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