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Leaf traits and relationships differ with season as well as among species groupings in a managed Southeastern China forest landscape

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Abstract

The relationships among leaf traits often reflect plant adaptation for coping with nutrient resources. However, the seasonal variations in leaf traits and their relationship with soil nutrients are not well understood. We sampled seven major functional traits of thirty trees and nine shrubs (sorted into different plant functional groups, PFGs, based on their growth form, leaf lifespan, and leaf shape) at different seasons in a managed forest plantation of Southeastern China. Both green leaf nitrogen and phosphorus concentrations (Ngreen and Pgreen) decreased significantly from spring and summer to autumn, and varied significantly with PFGs (P < 0.05) at different times of the year. Across all plants, specific leaf area correlated positively with Ngreen and Pgreen in spring, summer, and winter, but not in autumn; N resorption proficiency generally correlated positively with Ngreen in each season, while P resorption efficiency correlated positively with Pgreen in spring and summer, but not in autumn and winter. Soil nitrogen availability correlated negatively with leaf nutrient traits in some seasons. In conclusion, leaf trait relationships varied among the seasons and among PFGs. Seasonal dynamics of leaf traits as well as soil nutrients’ relations must be considered when exploring plant feedback to soil nutrients.

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Acknowledgments

This study was supported by Grants from the National Basic Research Program of China (973 Program, 2012CB416903) and the National Natural Science Foundation of China (30960311 and 31160107). We greatly appreciate Xiao-Fei Hu, Kun Yu, Xue Feng, and Wen Ren for their help in sampling and soil analyses and Dr. De-Hui Zeng for manuscript improvement. Several anonymous reviewers and the editor Dr. Rebecca Ostertag have significantly improved the quality of this paper.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. College of Life Sciences, Nanchang University, No. 999, Xuefuda Road, Honggutan New District, Nanchang, 330031, People’s Republic of China

    Fu-Sheng Chen

  2. College of Forestry, Jiangxi Agricultural University, Nanchang, 330045, People’s Republic of China

    Fu-Sheng Chen

  3. Department of Plant Biology, Cornell University, Ithaca, NY, 14853, USA

    Karl J. Niklas

  4. School of Forestry and Wildlife Sciences, Auburn University, Auburn, AL, 36830, USA

    Guang-Sheng Chen

  5. Key Laboratory of Ecosystem Network Observation and Modeling, Synthesis Research Center of Chinese Ecosystem Research Network, Institute of Geographic Sciences and Natural Resources Research, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, 100101, People’s Republic of China

    Dali Guo

Authors
  1. Fu-Sheng Chen
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  2. Karl J. Niklas
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  3. Guang-Sheng Chen
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  4. Dali Guo
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Fu-Sheng Chen.

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Table S1

Leaf traits of 13 species selected in this study in the forest plantation (PDF 38 kb)

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Chen, FS., Niklas, K.J., Chen, GS. et al. Leaf traits and relationships differ with season as well as among species groupings in a managed Southeastern China forest landscape. Plant Ecol 213, 1489–1502 (2012). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11258-012-0106-5

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11258-012-0106-5

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