Article
Forestry
Hoa Thanh Duong, Richard Mazanec, Jennifer A. McComb, Treena Burgess, Giles E. St J. Hardy
Summary: This study assessed the damage and growth of Corymbia calophylla trees caused by Quambalaria shoot blight (QSB) disease and found that the genetic factors of the tree's origin significantly influenced its resistance to QSB. Provenances from cooler wetter regions showed higher resistance. Additionally, fast-growing families were less affected by QSB disease.
TREE GENETICS & GENOMES
(2022)
Article
Ecology
George R. Wheeler, Chad E. Brassil, Johannes M. H. Knops
Summary: The study found that functional traits of grassland plants may vary significantly between years, primarily influenced by rainfall. Additionally, nitrogen addition treatment and sampling year can also interactively affect plant functional traits, especially in high rainfall years.
Article
Biodiversity Conservation
Chang Liu, Guangze Jin, Zhili Liu
Summary: The age of plant organs plays a crucial role in determining functional traits of evergreen coniferous species, affecting ecological strategies, nitrogen content, and other traits of leaves and branches. Leaf and branch traits are mainly influenced by organ age, while hydraulic traits are decoupled from other traits.
ECOLOGICAL INDICATORS
(2021)
Article
Ecology
Yulin Liu, Baijie Fan, Ziqing Gong, Luoyang He, Lei Chen, Anzhi Ren, Nianxi Zhao, Yubao Gao
Summary: This study investigates the effects of soil moisture and population origin on the traits of Stipa krylovii and their relationships with climate variables. The results show that both factors have significant effects on most traits, and climate variables are correlated with certain traits. This study provides new insights into the adaptive mechanisms of zonal species in semiarid grasslands.
ECOLOGY AND EVOLUTION
(2023)
Article
Plant Sciences
Samantha C. Macklin, Rachel O. Mariani, Emily N. Young, Rosalyn Kish, Kimberley A. Cathline, Gavin Robertson, Adam R. Martin
Summary: This study evaluated the variation in traits within five common wine grape varieties and found that these varieties exhibit intraspecific variation along a leaf economics spectrum (LES). Variety identity was the main factor influencing physiological and morphological traits, while growth stage influenced chemical traits and leaf mass. All varieties exhibited greater resource-conserving traits later in the growing season. Leaf hydraulic traits, including water-use efficiency, were unrelated to other resource capture traits and were better explained by spatial location.
Article
Ecology
Giacomo Puglielli, Carlos P. Carmona, Laura Varone, Lauri Laanisto, Carlo Ricotta
Summary: In trait-based ecology, it is common to use measures to quantify phenotypic variation between populations. However, these measures overlook the within-population trait variability and some of them cannot be partitioned between populations. This study proposes a new measure called the phenotypic dissimilarity (PhD) index to address these issues and provide a tool for quantifying phenotypic variation within and between species.
Article
Plant Sciences
M. Weemstra, C. Roumet, N. Cruz-Maldonado, F. Anthelme, A. Stokes, G. T. Freschet
Summary: Plant leaf and root traits show divergent patterns, with leaf traits being consistent within species while root traits are highly idiosyncratic. Intraspecific variation in root traits is greater than in leaf traits, mainly due to local environmental effects. There is little correlation between analogous leaf and root traits within species.
Article
Forestry
Eduardo Vicente, Margaux Didion-Gency, Luna Morcillo, Xavier Morin, Alberto Vilagrosa, Charlotte Grossiord
Summary: Understanding the coordination and variance of plant traits across climatic gradients is crucial for assessing their adaptive potential to climate change. A study on European beech in the French Alps revealed that populations growing under drier and warmer conditions presented wide variance for xylem anatomical and hydraulic traits, while colder locations showed decreased water transport capacity. The study also emphasized the importance of intrapopulation trait variance and trait network analysis in understanding species adaptation and acclimation potential to a shifting environment.
Article
Plant Sciences
Brody Sandel, Claire Pavelka, Thomas Hayashi, Lachlan Charles, Jennifer Funk, Fletcher W. Halliday, Gaurav S. Kandlikar, Andrew R. Kleinhesselink, Nathan J. B. Kraft, Loralee Larios, Tesa Madsen-McQueen, Marko J. Spasojevic
Summary: Research indicates that most plant species exhibit different functional trait variations under different climatic conditions, with higher specific leaf area (SLA), taller plants, and larger leaves in warmer and drier climates. This local trait variation pattern can be accurately predicted by machine learning methods, providing a more accurate estimate for ecosystem properties such as decomposition rates or NPP.
JOURNAL OF ECOLOGY
(2021)
Article
Agriculture, Multidisciplinary
Chaonan Wang, Xiang Li, Xiaoming Lu, Yang Wang, Yongfei Bai
Summary: Grazing in grasslands can regulate functional trait composition through intraspecific trait variation and species turnover. This study examined the relative roles of these variables in controlling grazing-induced shifts in community functional composition. The results showed that aboveground traits shifted towards grazing avoidance strategies and belowground traits shifted towards conservation strategies with increasing grazing intensity. Functional tradeoffs were found between plant individual biomass and density, as well as between leaf area and density. Intraspecific trait variation predominantly governed shifts in community functional trait composition, while changes in mean trait values among plant species were mainly triggered by species turnover.
AGRICULTURE ECOSYSTEMS & ENVIRONMENT
(2023)
Article
Forestry
Lamei Jiang, Abudoukeremujiang Zayit, Kunduz Sattar, Shiyun Wang, Xuemin He, Dong Hu, Hengfang Wang, Jianjun Yang
Summary: This study compared functional diversity among riverbank, transition zone, and desert margin communities in the desert ecosystem of the Ebinur Lake basin in Xinjiang. It analyzed the effects of intraspecific and interspecific trait variation on functional diversity and found that intraspecific trait variation can increase functional richness and differences in functional traits between species, but its effects on functional diversity differ among communities and scales. Spatial factors mainly influenced functional diversity at smaller scales, while environmental factors were influential at larger scales. Considering intraspecific trait variation can reduce the measured effect of dispersal on functional diversity.
Article
Plant Sciences
Ying Li, Congcong Liu, Li Xu, Mingxu Li, Jiahui Zhang, Nianpeng He
Summary: The study proposed the use of leaf trait networks to capture complex relationships among plant traits, revealing significant differences in trait relationships among different life forms and growth forms. It suggests that LTNs are useful tools for identifying key traits and quantifying the interdependence of multiple traits in plants.
FRONTIERS IN PLANT SCIENCE
(2021)
Article
Biology
Fletcher W. Halliday, Szymon Czyzewski, Anna-Liisa Laine
Summary: Predicting how climate change affects disease risk is complex due to direct and indirect effects of changing environmental conditions. This study investigated the effect of temperature, inter- and intraspecific trait variation on community disease risk. The results showed that increasing temperature favored species with fast-paced life-history strategies, but intraspecific variation in specific leaf area (SLA) balanced this effect, especially among species adapted to warmer temperatures and lower latitudes. These findings highlight the importance of considering host community structure and evolutionary constraints when studying the impacts of temperature on disease.
PHILOSOPHICAL TRANSACTIONS OF THE ROYAL SOCIETY B-BIOLOGICAL SCIENCES
(2023)
Article
Environmental Sciences
Maria Grau-Perez, V. Saroja Voruganti, Poojitha Balakrishnan, Karin Haack, Walter Goessler, Nora Franceschini, Josep Redon, Shelley A. Cole, Ana Navas-Acien, Maria Tellez-Plaza
Summary: This study evaluated genetic determinants of urine cadmium levels in American Indian adults and found that urine cadmium concentrations are heritable and influenced by a genetic locus on chromosome 16, which is explained by genetic variation in the ABCC1 gene. Additional studies with extended sets of genome-wide markers are needed to confirm these findings and to identify additional metabolism and toxicity pathways for cadmium.
ENVIRONMENTAL POLLUTION
(2021)
Article
Biodiversity Conservation
Jingguo Sun, Congcong Liu, Jihua Hou, Nianpeng He
Summary: The study investigated stomatal traits of 181 plant species across an environmental gradient on the Loess Plateau. Results showed significant differences in stomatal traits between different grassland types and plant functional groups, with strong correlations with environmental factors.
ECOLOGICAL INDICATORS
(2021)
Article
Biodiversity Conservation
Zhiyang Lie, Guoyi Zhou, Wenjuan Huang, Kohmei Kadowaki, David T. Tissue, Junhua Ya, Josep Penuelas, Jordi Sardans, Yuelin Li, Shizhong Liu, Guowei Chu, Ze Meng, Xinhua He, Juxiu Liu
Summary: Phosphorus plays a crucial role in the carbon feedback to climate warming in humid tropical forests. This study conducted a 7-year continuous warming experiment and found that warming increased plant phosphorus content, indicating enhanced biological and geochemical controls on the plant-soil phosphorus cycle.
GLOBAL CHANGE BIOLOGY
(2022)
Article
Plant Sciences
Vinod Jacob, Brendan Choat, Amber C. Churchill, Haiyang Zhang, Craig V. M. Barton, Arjunan Krishnananthaselvan, Alison K. Post, Sally A. Power, Belinda E. Medlyn, David T. Tissue
Summary: This study investigated the hydraulic vulnerability of grass species and found that they have high resistance to xylem embolism. Reductions in stomatal conductance and leaf hydraulic conductance occurred even under mild water stress. The results suggest that factors other than xylem embolism contribute to reductions in productivity of pasture grasses during drought.
PLANT CELL AND ENVIRONMENT
(2022)
Article
Ecology
Sheree J. Walters, Todd P. Robinson, Margaret Byrne, Paul Nevill
Summary: Provenance delineation is important for ecological restoration, but its application using genomics approach is rare. This study investigated two pairs of co-occurring plant species in mesic and semi-arid environments using neutral genetic data and landscape genomics, and found that the geographic extent of provenances and the required genetic change differed between the species and habitats. Future climate scenarios also had different effects on provenance patterns. This suggests that provenance guidelines should consider species and habitat dependencies.
RESTORATION ECOLOGY
(2022)
Review
Plant Sciences
Ximeng Li, Benye Xi, Xiuchen Wu, Brendan Choat, Jinchao Feng, Mingkai Jiang, David Tissue
Summary: Drought-induced tree mortality has a significant impact on the functioning and sustainability of forest ecosystems globally. However, our understanding of the vulnerability of different species to drought and the patterns of mortality events is limited. This review highlights the importance of understanding the physiological mechanisms and hydraulic traits associated with drought response, and how they can improve the representation of tree mortality in models.
FRONTIERS IN PLANT SCIENCE
(2022)
Editorial Material
Biodiversity Conservation
Kym Ottewell, Margaret Byrne
Review
Ecology
Bethany Nordstrom, Nicola Mitchell, Margaret Byrne, Simon Jarman
Summary: Reptile populations are declining globally, and a fifth of species are threatened with extinction. Environmental DNA (eDNA) can detect species and measure diversity, especially for elusive species. eDNA has been less used for reptiles, particularly in species-rich regions. Our review provides direction for the application of eDNA in reptile ecology and conservation.
ECOLOGY AND EVOLUTION
(2022)
Article
Biodiversity Conservation
Robyn E. Shaw, Peter B. Spencer, Lesley A. Gibson, Judy A. Dunlop, Janine E. Kinloch, Karel Mokany, Margaret Byrne, Craig Moritz, Harriet Davie, Kenny J. Travouillon, Kym M. Ottewell
Summary: Landscape-scale conservation considering metapopulation dynamics is crucial for preventing the decline of species. This study developed a novel approach that combines various data to model habitat, connectivity, and genetic structure and highlights opportunities for targeted species management. The findings suggest that habitat suitability is primarily influenced by terrain ruggedness, while dispersal is facilitated by proximity to watercourses. Climate subtly shapes distributions and genetic turnover patterns.
CONSERVATION BIOLOGY
(2023)
Article
Agronomy
Samantha E. Andres, Nathan J. Emery, Paul D. Rymer, Jeff R. Powell
Summary: This study identified candidate fungi and soil physiochemical properties associated with observed dieback and dieback resistance in an Endangered shrub and provides groundwork for further exploring what drives dieback and how it can be managed to promote the conservation of wild populations.
Article
Ecology
Robert J. J. Griffin-Nolan, Jeff Chieppa, Alan K. K. Knapp, Uffe N. N. Nielsen, David T. T. Tissue
Summary: Leaf hydraulic traits play a crucial role in plant drought tolerance and responses to climate change. This study focused on perennial grass species in eastern Australia and investigated the trade-offs between drought tolerance and plant morphology. The results showed that taller and more productive grass species had less drought-tolerant leaves, characterized by low leaf dry matter content and less negative leaf hydraulic conductance. Stomatal closure and turgor loss occurred at more negative leaf water potential in species with greater tiller production. These findings contribute to our understanding of grass hydraulic traits and their responses to drought in Australia.
FUNCTIONAL ECOLOGY
(2023)
Correction
Plant Sciences
Ximeng Li, Benye Xi, Xiuchen Wu, Brendan Choat, Jinchao Feng, Mingkai Jiang, David Tissue
FRONTIERS IN PLANT SCIENCE
(2023)
Article
Biodiversity Conservation
Kristen Nilsson, David Pearson, Mike Paxman, Anthony Desmond, Jason Kennington, Margaret Byrne, Kym Ottewell
Summary: Black-flanked rock-wallabies in Western Australia are at risk of genetic diversity loss and extinction due to their small and isolated populations. Conservation translocations have been conducted to increase their population sizes, and the introduction of multiple source populations has been shown to enhance genetic diversity. Monitoring of the translocated populations has shown increased genetic diversity over time.
CONSERVATION GENETICS
(2023)
Article
Plant Sciences
Scott N. Johnson, Rebecca K. Vandegeer, Justin O. Borevitz, Susan E. Hartley, David T. Tissue, Casey R. Hall
Summary: A common garden experiment using 57 accessions of Brachypodium distachyon from different Mediterranean locations showed a negative correlation between silicon accumulation and temperature variables, as well as precipitation seasonality. However, these relationships were only observed in low-silicon soils and not in silicon-supplemented soils. These findings suggest that geographical origin and prevailing climatic conditions may influence patterns of silicon accumulation in grasses.
Article
Evolutionary Biology
Timothy P. Robins, Rachel M. Binks, Margaret Byrne, Stephen D. Hopper
Summary: In this study, morphological and genetic analyses were conducted on different populations of Banksia occidentalis. The results showed that the coastal populations were genetically closer to the typical variant and did not represent a cohesive phenotypic group. These findings suggest that the morphological variation in coastal populations is the result of parallel ecotype evolution rather than a distinct evolutionary lineage.
BIOLOGICAL JOURNAL OF THE LINNEAN SOCIETY
(2023)
Article
Horticulture
Fatemeh Rasouli, Mohammad Babla, Lihua Li, Weiguang Liang, Miing-Tiem Yong, Talaat Ahmed, David Tissue, Samsul Huda, Zhong-Hua Chen
Summary: This study focused on the physiological traits and productivity of three eggplant cultivars in a high-tech glasshouse. The results showed that the cultivar Tracey had higher leaf growth and number of flowers per node compared to the other two varieties. Despite having the lowest net CO2 assimilation, Tracey produced the highest yield and better water use efficiency in terms of agronomic performance. However, further research is needed to understand the varietal performance of greenhouse eggplants and establish benchmarks for large-scale sustainable production.
Article
Forestry
Ting Wu, Yuting Song, David Tissue, Wei Su, Hanyu Luo, Xu Li, Shimin Yang, Xujun Liu, Junhua Yan, Juan Huang, Juxiu Liu
Summary: This study investigated the phenotypic plasticity of four tree species under different precipitation and nitrogen deposition conditions. The results showed that changing precipitation reduced photosynthetic rate in Castanopsis fissa, while high nitrogen deposition increased photosynthetic rate in Ormosia pinnata. The growth of Dalbergia odorifera might be affected by precipitation and nitrogen deposition. These findings have important implications for selecting tree species that can adapt to future climate change.
