Response of Leaf Functional Traits of Rare Plant Rosa anemoniflora to Environmental Changes

Abstract:

Leaf functional traits can reflect the adaptation strategies of plant to environment. Based on the sample survey, six wild Rosa anemoniflora communities at different altitude in Yanping District, Fujian Province were selected to study the effects of environment factors on leaf functional traits by using coefficient of variation, Pearson correlation analysis and redundancy analysis. The results showed that the habitat heterogeneity of R. anemoniflora communities was strong, the CV of soil factors under different environment ranged from 9.44% to 122.28%, among which soil pH was the smallest, and soil available phosphorus content was the largest. There are significant differences among soil factor indexes under different environment. The soil pH, contents of organic matter, total nitrogen (N), phosphorus (P) and potassium (K) and available nitrogen (AN), phosphorus (AP) and potassium (AK) were high in the middle altitude areas, and the soil stoichiometric ratio was low, while the soil moisture content and soil stoichiometric ratio were the highest in the high altitude areas. Under different environment, the CV of leaf functional traits of R. anemoniflora ranged from 2.49% to 97.58%, among which leaf water content was the smallest, and the specific leaf weight was the largest. Along the altitude, the contents of P, K, calcium (Ca) and magnesium (Mg) in leaves showed an increasing trend, indicating that the diversity of leaf functional traits was abundant, and had strong adaptability to heterogeneous habitats. Pearson correlation analysis showed that the dry matter content was significantly positively correlated with Ca content in leaves, and the contents of K and Mg were negatively correlated with C/N and N/P in leaves. Rosa anemoniflora at high altitude could increase stress resistance by improving the absorption of K, Ca and Mg to cope with habitat changes. The redundancy analysis showed that soil AK and water content were the main driving factors of leaf functional trait change with environment. Therefore, it was suggested that the leaf of R. anemoniflora adapted to the changes of altitude and habitat through functional trait variation and trait combination. The study on the functional traits of R. anemoniflora leaves and their relationship with environment factors would help to understand the impact of small-scale environmental changes on plant variation, and provide theoretical guidance for the conservation, development and genetic improvement of wild resources of R. anemoniflora.

Key words:Rosa anemoniflora;Leaf functional trait;Environment;Altitude;Redundancy analysis