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Spatial variation of vessel grouping in the xylem of Betula platyphylla Roth

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Abstract

Vessel grouping in angiosperms may improve hydraulic integration and increase the spread of cavitations through redundancy pathways. Although disputed, it is increasingly attracting research interest as a potentially significant hydraulic trait. However, the variation of vessel grouping in a tree is poorly understood. I measured the number of solitary and grouped vessels in the xylem of Betula platyphylla Roth. from the pith to the bark along the water flow path. The vessel grouping parameters included the mean number of vessels per vessel group (VG), percentage of solitary vessels (SVP), percentage of radial multiple vessels (MVP), and percentage of cluster vessels (CVP). The effects of cambial age (CA) and flow path-length (PL) on the vessel grouping were analyzed using a linear mixed model.VG and CVP increased nonlinearly, SVP decreased nonlinearly with PL. In trunks and branches, VG and CVP decreased nonlinearly, and SVP increased nonlinearly with CA. In roots, the parameters had no change with CA. MVP was almost constant with PL or CA. The results suggest that vessel grouping has a nonrandom variation pattern, which is affected deeply by cambial age and water flow path.

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Acknowledgments

The author thanks Professor. C.K. Wang and his colleagues from the Maoershan Forest Ecosystem Research Station for Granting permission to collect the tree samples, and is grateful to students of Henan University of Science and Technology for their processing the samples. The financial support of the Natural Science Foundation of China (31000265, 41401063) is gratefully acknowledged.

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Correspondence to Xiping Zhao.

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Zhao, X. Spatial variation of vessel grouping in the xylem of Betula platyphylla Roth. J Plant Res 129, 29–37 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10265-015-0768-x

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10265-015-0768-x

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