Leaf defenses of subtropical deciduous and evergreen trees to varying intensities of herbivory
Xiaoyu LiuCarri J. LeRoyGuobing WangYuan GuoShuwang SongZhipei WangJingfang WuFenggang LuanQingni SongXiong FangQingpei YangDongmei HuangJun Liu
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Generally, deciduous and evergreen trees coexist in subtropical forests, and both types of leaves are attacked by numerous insect herbivores. However, trees respond and defend themselves from herbivores in different ways, and these responses may vary between evergreen and deciduous species. We examined both the percentage of leaf area removed by herbivores as well as the percentage of leaves attacked by herbivores to evaluate leaf herbivore damage across 14 subtropical deciduous and evergreen tree species, and quantified plant defenses to varying intensities of herbivory. We found that there was no significant difference in mean percentage of leaf area removed between deciduous and evergreen species, yet a higher mean percentage of deciduous leaves were damaged compared to evergreen leaves (73.7% versus 60.2%). Although percent leaf area removed was mainly influenced by hemicellulose concentrations, there was some evidence that the ratio of non-structural carbohydrates:lignin and the concentration of tannins contribute to herbivory. We also highlight that leaf defenses to varying intensities of herbivory varied greatly among subtropical plant species and there was a stronger response for deciduous trees to leaf herbivore (e.g., increased nitrogen or lignin) attack than that of evergreen trees. This work elucidates how leaves respond to varying intensities of herbivory, and explores some of the underlying relationships between leaf traits and herbivore attack in subtropical forests.Cite
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Leaf growth patterns were studied in three pairs of evergreen and deciduous species, occuiring at an elevation of 2025-2150 m in the Kumaon Himalaya. Leaf initiation occurred earlier in evergreens with an exception of Litsea umbrosa . Peak leaf pool size was attained earlier in deciduous species (June to early July), while later (October) in evergreen species. Rate of leaf expansion was higher in deciduous species. Specific leaf mass in the initial period was higher in evergreen species than in deciduous species. Leaf area was higher in deciduous species as compared to evergreen species, while root length/leaf area unit was greater in evergreen species.
Evergreen forest
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of a dissertation at the University of Miami. Dissertation supervised by Professor Guillermo Goldstein. No. of pages in text. (145) Evergreen and deciduous trees are conspicuous growth forms across most forest ecosystems around the world. The competition or coexistence between deciduous and evergreen tree species is an old but important ecological topic. The relative advantages of being deciduous or evergreen and the environmental constraints on tree and ecosystem level carbon assimilation in subtropical forests are poorly understood. Evergreen broadleaf trees dominate the forests from elevations of 1000 to 2600 m in the subtropical area of Southwest China, while the subtropical forests from Southeast China at similar elevations are dominated by deciduous trees. The eco-physiological mechanism in explaining this distribution pattern is an interesting topic that has not yet been studied. The objectives of this dissertation were (1) to understand the difference in daily water use and photosynthesis between subtropical evergreen and deciduous tree species, (2) to understand the environmental constraints on the leaf and ecosystem level carbon assimilation of the subtropical forests in Southwest China, (3) to understand the tradeoffs in water relations and carbon assimilation between being deciduous and evergreen in the subtropics, and (4) to determine the annual carbon balance of evergreen and deciduous trees in the subtropics of Southwest China, which may partially explain the dominance of evergreen trees at the high elevations of this region. Tree hydraulic and photosynthetic traits, diurnal and seasonal dynamics in the water use and carbon assimilation of evergreen and deciduous trees from a subtropical montane cloud forest in Southwest China were studied from 2008 to 2011. Environmental conditions (temperature, rainfall, daytime fog, photosynthetic photon flux density etc.) and ecosystem level water and carbon exchange were also recorded. These forests are characterized by a summer with high precipitation and a dry mild winter. The long duration of fog and frequent rain during the summer is an important characteristic of the forest. I found that (1) the deciduous species had significantly higher stem hydraulic conductivity, greater stem capacitance, higher midday stem water potential, and higher midday stomatal conductance than the evergreen species, (2) the evergreen cloud forest buffered the effects of seasonal water deficits and rainfall anomalies by using soil water storage and ground water at depth, and by lowering the leaf and canopy water loss rates, (3) the evergreen species maintained high carbon assimilation (5.4 to 8.8 mol m s) during the winter, and the net ecosystem carbon gain was higher in the winter than in the summer, (4) the most common deciduous species in the forest extended their leaf life spans and used red senescing leaves to assimilate a considerable amount of carbon during part of the winter season. I concluded that (1) the considerable carbon gain by the evergreen broadleaf trees in the winter/dry season results in a higher yearly carbon gain than for the deciduous species, which partially explains the dominance of evergreen trees in the subtropical forests of Southwest China; (2) the low temperatures in the winter do not limit, while the longtime duration of cloud cover and leaf wetness during the summer strongly constrains, the tree and ecosystem level carbon gain, which weakens the advantages of deciduous species by having higher photosynthetic rates compared to the evergreen species during the summer; (3) extending the carbon assimilation period of a deciduous species into the winter months suggests that being evergreen is more competitive than being deciduous in subtropical forests of Southwest China. Therefore, the results of my dissertation provide a potential explanation for the dominance of evergreen trees in the subtropical forests in Southwest China. Substantial carbon uptake during the winter/dry season also allows this subtropical cloud forest to be one of the largest carbon sinks among old-growth forests in the world, suggesting the importance of subtropical forests in the global carbon cycle. The presence of cloud forests in the subtopics of China is not known or very little known to the international academic community. This dissertation puts the Chinese cloud forests in the world map and provides a mechanistic understanding of the selective pressures operating in subtropical cloud forests. The results of this dissertation also reveal the hydraulic and photosynthetic adaptations of evergreen and deciduous tree species growing in subtropical cloud forests.
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Leaf demography was studied in 9 trees (6 Evergreen (ES), 1 Semideciduous (SD) and 2 Deciduous (DS)) and 10 shrubs (7 Evergreen (ES) and 3 Deciduous (DS)) occurring between 350 to 2500 m elevation in the Kumaun Himalaya, India. Although each species had its own pattern about seasonality of leaf recruitment, it was possible to group the species based on leaf expansion behavior. The result shows the leaf expansion rate was greater for deciduous species compared to Evergreen species. The percent leaf area after four weeks of expansion was also greater for deciduous species.
Evergreen forest
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Stomatal Conductance
Ecophysiology
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We analyzed the ratio of evergreen to deciduous trees in eight urban parks based on the landscape plant resources survey of Beijing. The results show that the ratio and projected area ratio of evergreen to deciduous trees among the eight urban parks were different because of different characteristics of parks. But the ratio of evergreen to deciduous trees was mainly below 1∶1 with an average ratio of 1∶3, and the ratio of projected area was 1∶2, indicating that there are more deciduous trees than evergreen trees in urban parks, and the change of seasonal phase is obvious.
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Study was made on C,N,P content in leaf of evergreen and deciduous trees in evergreen broad-leaved forest at E’mei Mountain,Sichuan province and relationship among them.The result showed that mean content of C,N,P in evergreen species was respectively 42.30%,1.46% and 0.10%,while that in deciduous one was 41.078%,1.59% and 0.12%.N content in the tested forest leaves had close relation with P content,while no evident relation between C and N,C and P.The average N and P ratio in leaf from evergreen species was 14.48 and 13.61 from deciduous ones,indicating low adaptive faculty to local ecological environment.
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Clear-cutting has been a widespread commercial logging practice, causing substantial changes of biodiversity in many forests throughout the world. Forest recovery is a complex ecological process, and examining the recovery process after clear-cutting is important for forest conservation and management. In the present study, we established fourteen 20 m × 20 m plots in three recovery stages (20-year-old second growth, 35-year-old second growth and old growth) and explored the changes in evergreen and deciduous species diversity after clear-cutting in a subtropical evergreen-deciduous broadleaved mixed forest in central China. The results showed that total species richness was highest at the intermediate recovery stage. The species richness and stem abundance of evergreen species increased, while total and deciduous species stem abundance decreased with forest recovery. The basal area of both total and evergreen species increased, while that of the deciduous species showed a unimodal pattern. The abiotic conditions varied with the recovery process. Changes in species compositions were generally correlated with soil pH, total phosphorus, and CO. Our results suggest that deciduous species richness and stem abundance can recover after 20–35 years, but evergreen species need more time to recover following clear-cutting.
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Temperate deciduous forest
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Abstract Aims Generally, deciduous and evergreen trees coexist in subtropical forests, and both types of leaves are attacked by numerous insect herbivores. However, trees respond to and defend themselves from herbivores in different ways, and these responses may vary between evergreen and deciduous species. To understand tree responses to leaf herbivore attack under varying intensities of herbivory. Methods We examined both the percentage of leaf area removed by herbivores as well as the percentage of leaves attacked by herbivores to evaluate leaf herbivore damage across 15 subtropical deciduous and evergreen trees, quantified plant responses to varying intensities of herbivory and analyzed both leaf herbivore attack and leaf traits among species. Results We have found that there was a higher intensity of herbivory on deciduous species than evergreen species, both as percentage of leaf area removed and the percentage of leaves attacked. In addition, leaf herbivory was positively correlated with defensive traits (concentrations of tannin and lignin), and negatively correlated with nutrient content (ratios of NSC:lignin and NSC:cellulose), which may be largely attributed to long-term and frequent insect herbivore stress and potentially evolutionary arms races between plants and insects. Conclusions This study highlights that leaf responses to varying intensities of herbivory differed widely among subtropical plant species and there was a stronger defensive response for deciduous trees to leaf herbivore attack than that of evergreen trees. These results have implications for better understanding plant responses and defenses to varying intensities of herbivory, and reveal several underlying relationships between leaf traits and herbivory.
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湖北恩施 445000; 4 南京林业大学南方现代林业协同创新中心, 南京 210037 摘 要 为深入研究亚热带常绿落叶阔叶混交林的生物多样性维持机制, 合理保护与利用此类森林植被, 以鄂西南两个自然 保护区--星斗山和木林子典型的亚热带常绿落叶阔叶混交林为研究对象, 在野外样方调查的基础上进行了群落数量分类 和排序, 分析了常绿和落叶物种比例随群落类型及环境因子变化的规律。研究结果表明: (1)将鄂西南两个自然保护区的亚热 带常绿落叶阔叶混交林划分为5个群落类型: 即青冈-翅柃+尖连蕊茶(Cyclobalanopsis glauca-Eurya alata + Camellia cuspidata) 群落(I)、川陕鹅耳枥+青冈-翅柃(Carpinus fargesiana + Cyclobalanopsis glauca-Eurya alata)群落(II)、川陕鹅耳枥+青冈-水马桑 (Carpinus fargesiana + Cyclobalanopsis glauca-Weigela japonica)群落(III)、光叶水青冈+多脉青冈-翅柃(Fagus lucida + Cyclobalanopsis multinervis-Eurya alata)群落(IV)和川陕鹅耳枥+交让木+包果柯-翅柃(Carpinus
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