Back to Search Start Over

Allometric relationships between leaf and petiole traits across 31 floating-leaved plants reveal a different adaptation pattern from terrestrial plants.

Authors :
Liu Y
Liu H
Baastrup-Spohr L
Li Z
Li W
Pan J
Cao Y
Source :
Annals of botany [Ann Bot] 2023 Apr 04; Vol. 131 (3), pp. 545-552.
Publication Year :
2023

Abstract

Background and Aims: Allometric scaling between stomata and xylem for terrestrial woody plants is a widely observed pattern that may be constrained by water transport. Floating-leaved plants, a particular life form of aquatic plants, have leaves in direct contact with both air and water and a poorly developed xylem that may not be limited by water supply as for terrestrial plants. However, whether such an allometric scaling relationship still exists in floating-leaved plants has not been explored.<br />Methods: We analysed 31 floating-leaved species/varieties with a range in leaf area covering six orders of magnitude. For all 31 floating-leaved plants, we studied the allometric relationships between leaf area and petiole transverse area, and between total stomatal area and petiole vascular area.<br />Key Results: The slopes of both relationships were similar to the slope of the allometric relationship (1.23) between total stomatal area and xylem area of 53 terrestrial plants. However, for ten of them with xylem that can be clearly defined, the strong positive relationship between total stomatal area and petiole xylem area had a significantly smaller slope than that of terrestrial plants (0.64 vs. 1.23). Furthermore, after considering phylogeny, the scaling relationships between total stomatal area and petiole traits in floating-leaved plants remained significant.<br />Conclusions: We speculated that for floating-leaved plants, the hyperallometric relationship (slope >1) between the construction of leaf/stoma and petiole was promoted by the high demand for photosynthesis and thus more leaves/stomata. While the hypoallometric relationship (slope <1) between stomatal and xylem area was related more to hydraulic processes, the selection pressure on stomata was lower than xylem of floating-leaved plants. Allometric relationships among the hydraulic traits on water transport of aquatic plants are the result of natural selection to achieve maximum carbon gain, which is similar to terrestrial plants.<br /> (© The Author(s) 2023. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the Annals of Botany Company.)

Details

Language :
English
ISSN :
1095-8290
Volume :
131
Issue :
3
Database :
MEDLINE
Journal :
Annals of botany
Publication Type :
Academic Journal
Accession number :
36655615
Full Text :
https://doi.org/10.1093/aob/mcad007