Understanding the variation of functional traits of plant species along forest successional gradients may provides useful insights into community assemblages. However, species performance during forest succession is controversial. We explored the variation of leaf traits along a forest succession by examining ten leaf traits in four successional stages in a monsoon evergreen broad-leaved forest in Southwest China. Results showed significant differences in all leaf traits except leaf area and leaf carbon content among the successional stages. Five leaf traits were highly correlated to successional stage, while the first principal component showed no correlation with successional stage. The first principal component accounted for 56.1% of the total variation in all ten leaf traits. Almost 50% of the relationships between leaf traits differed along the examined successional gradient, indicating that leaf traits were affected by the successional stage.
Keywords
, , , ,
Citation
Liu W, Su J (2017). Successional leaf traits of monsoon evergreen broad-leaved forest, Southwest China. iForest 10: 391-396. - doi: 10.3832/ifor2045-009
Academic Editor
Chris Eastaugh
Paper history
Received: Mar 08, 2016
Accepted: Nov 18, 2016
First online: Mar 16, 2017
Publication Date: Apr 30, 2017
Publication Time: 3.93 months
© SISEF - The Italian Society of Silviculture and Forest Ecology 2017
Open Access
This article is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-Non Commercial 4.0 International (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to the Creative Commons license, and indicate if changes were made.
Breakdown by View Type
(Waiting for server response...)
Article Usage
Total Article Views: 20705
(from publication date up to now)
Breakdown by View Type
HTML Page Views: 15927
Abstract Page Views: 919
PDF Downloads: 2964
Citation/Reference Downloads: 20
XML Downloads: 875
Web Metrics
Days since publication: 2595
Overall contacts: 20705
Avg. contacts per week: 55.85
Article Citations
Article citations are based on data periodically collected from the Clarivate Web of Science web site
(last update: Nov 2020)
Total number of cites (since 2017): 2
Average cites per year: 0.50
Publication Metrics
by Dimensions ©
Articles citing this article
List of the papers citing this article based on CrossRef Cited-by.
(1)
Aerts R, Chapin III FS (2000)The mineral nutrition of wild plants revisited: A re-evaluation of processes and patterns. Advances in Ecological Research 30: 1-68.
CrossRef |
Gscholar
(2)
Albayrak S, Çamas N (2007)Effects of temperature and light intensity on growth of fodder beet (
Beta vulgaris var.
Crassa mansf.). Bangladesh Journal of Botany 36: 1-12.
Online |
Gscholar
(3)
Aubin I, Gachet S, Messier C, Bouchard A (2007)How resilient are northern hardwood forests to human disturbance? An evaluation using a plant functional group approach. Ecoscience 14: 259-271.
CrossRef |
Gscholar
(4)
Caccianiga M, Luzzaro A, Pierce S, Ceriani RM, Cerabolini B (2006)The functional basis of a primary succession resolved by CSR classification. Oikos 112: 10-20.
CrossRef |
Gscholar
(5)
Chai Y, Liu X, Yue M, Guo J, Wang M, Wan P, Zhang X, Zhang C (2015)Leaf traits in dominant species from different secondary successional stages of deciduous forest on the Loess Plateau of northern China. Applied Vegetation Science 18: 50-63.
CrossRef |
Gscholar
(6)
Chai Y, Yue M, Wang M, Xu J, Liu X, Zhang R, Wan P (2016)Plant functional traits suggest a change in novel ecological strategies for dominant species in the stages of forest succession. Oecologia 180: 771-783.
CrossRef |
Gscholar
(7)
Clark DL, Wilson M, Roberts R, Dunwiddie PW, Stanley A, Kaye TN (2012)Plant traits - a tool for restoration? Applied Vegetation Science 15: 449-458.
CrossRef |
Gscholar
(8)
Díaz S, Cabido M (2001)Vive la différence: plant functional diversity matters to ecosystem processes. Trends in Ecology and Evolution 16: 646-655.
CrossRef |
Gscholar
(9)
Douma JC, De Haan MWA, Aerts R, Witte J-PM, Van Bodegom PM (2012)Succession-induced trait shifts across a wide range of NW European ecosystems are driven by light and modulated by initial abiotic conditions. Journal of Ecology 100: 366-380.
CrossRef |
Gscholar
(10)
Elser JJ, Acharya K, Kyle M, Cotner J, Makino W, Markow T, Watts T, Hobbie S, Fagan W, Schade J, Hood J, Sterner RW (2003)Growth rate-stoichiometry couplings in diverse biota. Ecology Letters 6: 936-943.
CrossRef |
Gscholar
(11)
Falster DS, Warton DI, Wright IJ (2006)SMATR: standardised major axis tests and routines, ver 2.0. Web site.
Online |
Gscholar
(12)
Funk JL, McDaniel S (2010)Altering light availability to restore invaded forest: the predictive role of plant traits. Restoration Ecology 18: 865-872.
CrossRef |
Gscholar
(13)
Garnier E, Cortez J, Billès G, Navas M-L, Roumet C, Debussche M, Laurent G, Blanchard A, Aubry D, Bellman A, Neill C, Toussaint J-P (2004)Plant functional markers capture ecosystem properties during secondary succession. Ecology 85: 2630-2637.
CrossRef |
Gscholar
(14)
Grotkopp E, Rejmanek M (2007)High seedling relative growth rate and specific leaf area are traits of invasive species: phylogenetically independent contrasts of woody angiosperms. American Journal of Botany 94: 526-532.
CrossRef |
Gscholar
(15)
Güsewell S (2004)N:P ratios in terrestrial plants: variation and functional significance. New Phytologist 164: 243-266.
CrossRef |
Gscholar
(16)
Güsewell S, Gessner MO (2009)N:P ratios influence litter decomposition and colonization by fungi and bacteria in microcosms. Functional Ecology 23: 211-219.
CrossRef |
Gscholar
(17)
Han WX, Fang JY, Guo DL, Yan Z (2005)Leaf nitrogen and phosphorus stoichiometry across 753 terrestrial plant species in China. New Phytologist 168: 377-385.
CrossRef |
Gscholar
(18)
He JS, Wang L, Flynn DFB, Wang X, Ma W, Fang J (2008)Leaf nitrogen: phosphorus stoichiometry across chinese grassland biomes. Oecologia 155: 301-310.
CrossRef |
Gscholar
(19)
Hoffmann WA, Franco AC, Moreira MZ, Haridasan M (2005)Specific leaf area explains differences in leaf traits between congeneric savanna and forest trees. Functional Ecology 19: 932-940.
CrossRef |
Gscholar
(20)
Kahmen S, Poschlod P (2004)Plant functional trait responses to grassland succession over 25 years. Journal of Vegetation Science 15: 21-32.
CrossRef |
Gscholar
(21)
Kay AD, Ashton IW, Gorokhova EC, Kerhov AJ, Liess A, Litchman E (2005)Toward a stoichiometric framework for evolutionary biology. Oikos 109: 6-17.
CrossRef |
Gscholar
(22)
Kraft NJB, Valencia R, Ackerly DD (2008)Functional traits and niche-based tree community assembly in an Amazonian forest. Science 322: 580-582.
CrossRef |
Gscholar
(23)
Lavorel S, Mclntyre S, Landsberg J, Forbes TDA (1997)Plant functional classifications: from general groups to specific groups based on response to disturbance. Trends in Ecology and Evolution 12: 474-478.
CrossRef |
Gscholar
(24)
Liu WD, Su JR, Li SF, Zhang ZJ, Li ZW (2010)Stoichiometry study of C, N and P in plant and soil at different successional stages of monsoon evergreen broad-leaved forest in Pu’er, Yunnan Province. Acta Ecologica Sinica 30: 6581-6590.
Gscholar
(25)
Matzek V, Vitousek PM (2009)N:P stoichiometry and protein:RNA ratios in vascular plants: an evaluation of the growth-rate hypothesis. Ecology Letters 12: 765-771.
CrossRef |
Gscholar
(26)
McGill BJ, Enquist BJ, Weiher E, Westoby M (2006)Rebuilding community ecology from functional traits. Trends in Ecology and Evolution 21: 178-185.
CrossRef |
Gscholar
(27)
Mládek J, Hejcman M, Hejduk S, Duchoslav M, Pavlu V (2010)Community seasonal development enables late defoliation without loss of forage quality in low productive semi-natural grasslands. Folia Geobotanica 46: 17-34.
CrossRef |
Gscholar
(28)
Navas ML, Roumet C, Bellmann A, Laurent G, Garnier E (2010)Suites of plant traits in species from different stages of a Mediterranean secondary succession. Plant Biology 12: 183-196.
CrossRef |
Gscholar
(29)
Reich PB (1995)Phenology of tropical forests: patterns, causes, and consequences. Canadian Journal of Botany 73: 164-174.
CrossRef |
Gscholar
(30)
Reich PB, Wright IJ, Cavender-Bares J, Craine JM, Olesen J, Westoby M, Walters MB (2003)The evolution of plant functional variation: traits, spectra, and strategies. International Journal of Plant Science 164: 143-164.
CrossRef |
Gscholar
(31)
Suding KN, Lavorel S, Chapin FS, Cornelissen JHC, Diaz S, Garnier E, Goldberg D, Hooper D, Jackson ST, Navas M-L (2008)Scaling environmental change through the community-level: a trait-based response-and-effect framework for plants. Global Change Biology 14: 1125-1140.
CrossRef |
Gscholar
(32)
Vendramini F, Díaz S, Gurvich DE, Wilson PJ, Thompson K, Hodgson JG (2002)Leaf traits as indicators of resource-use strategy in floras with succulent species. New Phytologist 154: 147-157.
CrossRef |
Gscholar
(33)
Waite M, Sack L (2010)How does moss photosynthesis relate to leaf and canopy structure? Trait relationships for 10 Hawaiian species of contrasting light habitats. New Phytologist 185: 156-172.
CrossRef |
Gscholar
(34)
Wardle DA, Walker LR, Bardgett RD (2004)Ecosystem properties and forest decline in contrasting long-term chronosequences. Science 305: 509-513.
CrossRef |
Gscholar
(35)
Warton DI, Wright IJ, Falster DS, Westoby M (2006)Bivariate line-fitting methods for allometry. Biological Review 81: 259-291.
CrossRef |
Gscholar
(36)
Westoby M (1998)A leaf-height-seed (LHS) plant ecology strategy scheme. Plant and Soil 199: 213-227.
CrossRef |
Gscholar
(37)
Westoby M, Falster DS, Moles AT, Vesk PA, Wright IJ (2002)Plant ecological strategies: some leading dimensions of variation between species. Annual Review of Ecology and Systematics 33: 125-159.
CrossRef |
Gscholar
(38)
Wilson PJ, Thompson K (1999)Specific leaf area and leaf dry matter content as alternative predictors of plant strategies. New Phytologist 143: 155-162.
CrossRef |
Gscholar
(39)
Wright IJ, Reich PB, Westoby M (2003)Least-cost input mixtures of water and nitrogen for photosynthesis. The American Naturalist 161: 98-111.
Gscholar
(40)
Wright IJ, Reich PB, Westoby M, Ackerly DD, Baruch Z, Bongers F, Cavender-Bares J, Chapin T, Cornelissen JHC, Diemer M, Flexas J, Garnier E, Groom PK, Gulias J, Hikosaka K, Lamont BB, Lee T, Lee W, Lusk C, Midgley JJ, Navas M-L, Niinemets U, Oleksyn J, Osada N, Poorter H, Poot P, Prior L, Pyankov VI, Roumet C, Thomas SC, Tjoelker MG, Veneklaas EJ, Villar R (2004)The worldwide leaf economics spectrum. Nature 428: 821-827.
CrossRef |
Gscholar
(41)
Yan ER, Wang XH, Zhou W (2008)N:P stoichiometry in secondary succession in evergreen broad-leaved forest, Tiantong, East China. Journal of Plant Ecology (Chinese Version) 32: 13-22.
Gscholar
