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Rapid Adaptation of Chimonobambusa opienensis Leaves to Crown–Thinning in Giant Panda Ecological Corridor, Niba Mountain

Leaf traits reflect the ecological strategy in heterogeneous contexts and are widely used to explore the adaption of plant species to environmental change. However, the knowledge of short-term effect of canopy management on understorey plant leaf traits is still limited. Here, we studied the short-t...

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Detalles Bibliográficos
Autores principales: Fang, Di, Xian, Junren, Chen, Guopeng, Zhang, Yuanbin, Qin, Hantang, Fu, Xin, Lin, Liyang, Ai, Yuxuan, Yang, Zhanbiao, Xu, Xiaoxun, Yang, Yuanxiang, Cheng, Zhang
Formato: Online Artículo Texto
Lenguaje:English
Publicado: MDPI 2023
Materias:
Acceso en línea:https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC10255537/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/37299088
http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/plants12112109
Descripción
Sumario:Leaf traits reflect the ecological strategy in heterogeneous contexts and are widely used to explore the adaption of plant species to environmental change. However, the knowledge of short-term effect of canopy management on understorey plant leaf traits is still limited. Here, we studied the short-term effect of crown–thinning on the leaf morphological traits of bamboo (Chimonobambusa opienensis), an important understorey plant and staple food for the giant panda (Ailuropoda melanoleuca) of Niba Mountain. Our treatments were two crown–thinnings (spruce plantation, CS, and deciduous broad-leaved forest, CB) and two controls (broad-leaved forest canopy, FC, and the bamboo grove of clearcutting, BC). The results showed that: the CS enhanced the annual leaf length, width, area, and thickness, CB decreased almost all annual leaf traits, and perennial leaf traits in CS and CB were the opposite. The log-transformed allometric relationships of length vs. width, biomass vs. area were significantly positive while those of specific leaf area vs. thickness were significantly negative, which varied largely in treatments and age. The leaf traits and allometric relationships suggested that the CS created a more suitable habitat for bamboo growth. This study highlighted that the understorey bamboo leaf traits could adapt the improved light environment induced by crown–thinning rapidly.