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Phenotypic plasticity controls regional-scale variation in Quercus variabilis leaf δ13C

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Abstract

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The variation of Quercus variabilis leaf δ 13 C along latitude resulted primarily from phenotypic acclimation to climate.

Abstract

The determination of relative contribution by genetic adaptation and phenotypic acclimation to leaf δ13C variation helps the use of this index for reconstructing paleoclimates, developing terrestrial carbon dynamic models, and evaluating plant water use efficiency under predicted climate change. Using a 4-year in situ investigation across eastern China and a common garden experiment to explore plastic versus adaptive effects on the variation of leaf δ13C in Quercus variabilis, a widely distributed, economically important species in China. The leaf δ13C of in situ populations ranged from −24.05 to −30.74 ‰, and increased significantly with latitude, which was positively related to index of aridity, and negatively to mean annual temperature. However, there was little variation in leaf δ13C of seedlings from 16 populations planted in a common garden. These findings indicate the dominance of phenotypic acclimation in leaf δ13C variation. The hierarchical partitioning analysis further suggested that observed changes of in situ leaf δ13C had little association with leaf mass per area and nitrogen. These results suggest that Q. variabilis is physiologically flexible in acclimation to rapid climate change and can be a model plant species for studying the impacts of climate change on plant ecophysiology.

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Acknowledgments

We thank Zhicheng Liu, Guangrong Shen, Dongmei Chen, Yanhua Zhu, and Xinghu He for their assistance in the field work and laboratory analyses, and Dr. Rongzhou Man for his comments and discussions on the paper. This work was financially supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (NSFC 31270640, 31070532 and 31270491), and the Strategic Priority Research Program of the Chinese Academy of Sciences (XDA05050200).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. School of Agriculture and Biology, Research Centre for Low-Carbon Agriculture, Shanghai Jiao Tong University, Dongchuan Rd. 800, Shanghai, 200240, People’s Republic of China

    Xiao Sun, Hongzhang Kang, Baoming Du, Shan Yin, Xuan Zhou & Chunjiang Liu

  2. College of Agro-grassland Science, Nanjing Agricultural University, Nanjing, 210095, People’s Republic of China

    Xiao Sun

  3. Faculty of Natural Resources Management, Lakehead University, 955 Oliver Road, Thunder Bay, ON, P7B 5E1, Canada

    Han Y. H. Chen & Eric B. Searle

  4. Shanghai Urban Forest Research Station, State Forestry Administration, Dongchuan Rd. 800, Shanghai, 200240, People’s Republic of China

    Chunjiang Liu

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  1. Xiao Sun
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  2. Hongzhang Kang
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  3. Han Y. H. Chen
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Correspondence to Chunjiang Liu.

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Communicated by J. Major.

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Sun, X., Kang, H., Chen, H.Y.H. et al. Phenotypic plasticity controls regional-scale variation in Quercus variabilis leaf δ13C. Trees 30, 1445–1453 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00468-016-1380-y

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00468-016-1380-y

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