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Long-term physiological and morphological acclimation by the evergreen shrub Buxus sempervirens L. to understory and canopy gap light intensities

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Abstract

Physiological and morphological plasticity are essential for growth and reproduction in contrasting light environments. In dry forest ecosystems, light generalists must also cope with the trade-offs involved in synchronous acclimation to light availability and drought. To understand how the broadleaf evergreen tree-shrub Buxus sempervirens L. (common box) inhabits both understory and successional terrain of Mediterranean forest, we measured photosynthesis–fluorescence light response, morphological traits and architectural characteristics across a light gradient. Our results show that B. sempervirens exhibits stress resistance syndrome, with little change in net photosynthesis rate across a light availability gradient, due to compensatory physiological and morphological acclimation. Light energy processing and dissipation potential were highest in leaves of well-illuminated plants, with higher electron transport rate, fraction of open photosystem II reaction centres, non-photochemical quenching, photorespiration and dark respiration. In contrast, traits reducing light capture efficiency were observed in high light shrubs, including higher leaf mass per unit area, leaf clumping, leaf inclination and branch inclination. We suggest that both physiological and morphological plasticity are required for B. sempervirens to survive across a light gradient in a dry forest ecosystem, while exhibiting homoeostasis in photosynthetic gas exchange. We further speculate that the low growth rate of B. sempervirens is effective in full sun only due to a lack of competition in low resource microsites.

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Acknowledgments

This project was supported by funding from the University of Lethbridge Research Fund (MGL), photosynthesis equipment purchased through Western Economic Diversification Canada (MGL), a postdoctoral fellowship from the Spanish Ministry of Science and Innovation (JR-C) and a scholarship from the Regional Government of Extremadura (VR). We thank Eva Rosenqvist for helpful advice on the construction of photosynthesis–fluorescence light response curves. This work is a contribution to the Drought+ research program (ANR-06-VULN-003-01), at the Centre d’Ecologie Fonctionnelle et Evolutive of the Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CEFE-CNRS).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Geography, Alberta Water and Environmental Science Building, University of Lethbridge, 4401 University Drive, Lethbridge, AB, T1K 3M4, Canada

    Matthew G. Letts

  2. Centre d’Écologie Fonctionnelle et Evolutive, Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CEFE-CNRS), 1919 Route de Mende, 34293, Montpellier, France

    Jesús Rodríguez-Calcerrada, Víctor Rolo & Serge Rambal

  3. Departamento de Producción Vegetal, Ecología y Ciencias de la Tierra, Universidad de Extremadura, 10600, Plasencia, Spain

    Víctor Rolo

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  1. Matthew G. Letts
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Correspondence to Matthew G. Letts.

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Communicated by W. Bilger.

M. G. Letts and J. Rodríguez-Calcerrada contributed equally to this manuscript.

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Letts, M.G., Rodríguez-Calcerrada, J., Rolo, V. et al. Long-term physiological and morphological acclimation by the evergreen shrub Buxus sempervirens L. to understory and canopy gap light intensities. Trees 26, 479–491 (2012). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00468-011-0609-z

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