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Leaf stable carbon isotope composition in Picea schrenkiana var. tianschanica in relation to leaf physiological and morphological characteristics along an altitudinal gradient

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Abstract

To understand the effects of leaf physiological and morphological characteristics on δ 13C of alpine trees, we examined leaf δ 13C value, LA, SD, LNC, LPC, LKC, Chla+b, LDMC, LMA and Narea in one-year-old needles of Picea schrenkiana var. tianschanica at ten points along an altitudinal gradient from 1420 m to 2300 m a.s.l. on the northern slopes of the Tianshan Mountains in northwest China. Our results indicated that all the leaf traits differed significantly among sampling sites along the altitudinal gradient (P<0.001). LA, SD, LPC, LKC increased linearly with increasing elevation, whereas leaf δ 13C, LNC, Chla+b, LDMC, LMA and Narea varied non-linearly with changes in altitude. Stepwise multiple regression analyses showed that four controlled physiological and morphological characteristics influenced the variation of δ 13C. Among these four controlled factors, LKC was the most profound physiological factor that affected δ 13C values, LA was the secondary morphological factor, SD was the third morphological factor, LNC was the last physiological factor. This suggested that leaf δ 13C was directly controlled by physiological and morphological adjustments with changing environmental conditions due to the elevation.

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Abbreviations

δ 13C:

leaf carbon isotope composition

LA:

leaf projected area per 100 needles

SD:

stomatal density

LNC:

leaf nitrogen concentration per unit mass

LPC:

leaf phosphorus concentration per unit mass

LKC:

leaf potassium concentration per unit mass

Chla+b:

pigment contents

LDMC:

leaf dry matter content

LMA:

leaf mass per unit area

Narea :

leaf nitrogen concentration per unit area

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. State Key Laboratory Breeding Base of Desertification and Aeolian Sand Disaster Combating, Gansu Desert Control Research Institute, Lanzhou, 730070, China

    Hui-wen Zhang

  2. Key Laboratory of Ecohydrology of Inland River Basin, Cold and Arid Regions Environmental and Engineering Research Institute, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Lanzhou, 730000, China

    Hui-wen Zhang, Zhen Wu & Hong-lang Xiao

  3. Key Laboratory of Western China’s Environmental Systems (Ministry of Education), Lanzhou University, Lanzhou, 730000, China

    Hui-wen Zhang

  4. Lanzhou Institute of Seismology, China Earthquake Administration, Lanzhou, 730000, China

    Zhen Wu

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  1. Hui-wen Zhang
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  2. Zhen Wu
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  3. Hong-lang Xiao
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Zhang, Hw., Wu, Z. & Xiao, Hl. Leaf stable carbon isotope composition in Picea schrenkiana var. tianschanica in relation to leaf physiological and morphological characteristics along an altitudinal gradient. J. Mt. Sci. 13, 1217–1228 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11629-014-3403-8

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