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Environmental adaptability of the genus Carex-A case study of Carex heterostachya and Carex breviculmis in northwest China

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Abstract

Carex heterostachya and Carex breviculmis are easy to develop lawns in a short period while taking on high ornamental significance in northwest China where summer temperatures are high, rainfall is uneven, and soil is scarce. Several questions were raised, which are elucidated as follows: what type of plant functional characteristic has they formed for long-term survival and adaptation to this environment; which plant is more adaptable; which leaf functional characteristic are critical to photosynthetic characteristics. The following conclusions were drawn based on the exploration of the leaf functional characteristic of the two plants using gas exchange technology and field emission electron scanning technology: (a) C. breviculmis refers to a slow investment-return plant, exhibiting strong environmental adaptability and plasticity, and it is resistant to barrenness, drought, and shade. C. heterostachya refers to a type of quick investment-return plant, with high photosynthetic efficiency, well-developed transport tissue, and relatively shade-tolerant. The soil with low water content and poorer soil applies to C. breviculmis cultivation, and C. heterostachya applies to cultivation in the environment with sufficient light and rich nutrients. Moreover, C. breviculmis and C. heterostachya can be adopted to enrich the diversity of understory landscape. (b) Carex exhibits strong environmental adaptability, large variation in eco-physiological characteristics, as well as strong plasticity. Leaf anatomical characteristics are stable, whereas differences exist in the interspecific variability and plasticity. (c) when the genus Carex grew in the semi-shade and the soil environment was arid, specific leaf area (SLA) can become the main factor for the photosynthetic availability of Carex, the thickness of the stratum corneum, the thickness of the upper serve as secondary factors. The above-described findings can lay a theoretical basis for the cultivation and application of Carex and the expansion of turfgrass germplasm resources.

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Abbreviations

TA:

Air temperature

PAR:

Photosynthetically active radiation

CA:

Air carbon dioxide concentration

RH:

Relative humidity

PN:

Net photosynthetic rate

CI:

Intercellular CO2 concentration

TR:

Transpiration rate

GS:

Stomatal conductance

LUE:

Light use efficiency

WUE:

Water use efficiency

LS:

Stomatal limitation

LSP:

Light saturation point

LCP:

Light compensation point

α:

Apparent quantum yield

PNMAX:

Maximum net photosynthetic rate (light response curves)

RD:

Dark breathing rate

CSP:

CO2 saturation point

CCP:

CO2 compensation point

η:

Initial carboxylation rate

ANMAX:

Maximum net photosynthetic rate (CO2–response curves)

RP:

Photorespiration rate

VCMAX:

Maximum carboxylation rate

JMAX:

Maximum electron conductivity

LA:

Leaf area

LT:

Leaf thickness

SLA:

Specific leaf area

LDMC:

Leaf dry matter content

LRWC:

Leaf relative water content

LTD:

Leaf tissue density

SP:

Siliceous papillose

CUT:

Thickness of cuticle

UET:

Thickness of upper epidermis

LET:

Thickness of lower epidermal

MVT:

Thickness of main vein

VA:

Vascular area

MVA:

Main vessel area

MVA/VA:

Vessel area/main vessel area

BC:

Number of bulliform cells

CV:

Coefficient of variation

PI:

Plasticity index

RDA:

Redundancy analysis

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Acknowledgements

Sincere thanks to the support of the Natural Science Foundation of China (32071859). We thank Dr. Guoyun Zhang (State Key Laboratory of Crop Stress Biology for Arid Areas, Northwest A&F University, Yangling, China) for their assistance with observation experiment of leaf anatomical structure.

Funding

This work was supported by the Natural Science Foundation of China (32071859).

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  1. College of Landscape Architecture and Arts, Northwest A&F University, Li Taiwan Street, Yangling Demonstration Area, Xianyang, Shaanxi Province, China

    Xiaoqi Wang, Yuhan Feng, Xuewei Feng, Wanting Liu, Yulin Huang, Songlin Jiang, Jinguo Hua, Fei Xie & Wenli Ji

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Contributions

XW and WJ: planned and designed the research. XW, YF, XF, WL, JH, FX: performed experiments and conducted fieldwork. XW and YH: analysed data. XW: wrote the initial manuscript, SJ: and YH: provided data about soil moisture and soil nutrition of sample growth environment. XW, SJ and YH: contributed to its revision.

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Correspondence to Wenli Ji.

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Wang, X., Feng, Y., Feng, X. et al. Environmental adaptability of the genus Carex-A case study of Carex heterostachya and Carex breviculmis in northwest China. Plant Ecol 224, 617–634 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11258-023-01328-y

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