Characteristics Of Pinus Koraiensis Functional Trait Responses To Geography And Climate

Researches of plant functional traits mainly discuss a question of the relationships between physiological and ecological characteristics of vegetation and the external environment.This study discussed the characteristics of growth and adaptability of Pinus koraiensis to environmental changes,and the ecological strategies that were used to adjust the balance of substances and energy,by analyzing the response of Pinus koraiensis functional traits under different geographical and climatic factors.These were as a basis to evaluate the dynamic patterns and function of forest communities and ecosystems.The aim of this study was to investigate the characteristics of geography and climate affecting the functional traits of Pinus koraiensis,and to evaluate the environmental factors that affecting the functional traits of Pinus koraiensis.The study is as follows:(1)The main reason for the change of functional traits of Pinus koraiensis was found by analyzing the response relationship between functional traits and climatic factors at different elevations in Mt.Changbai.(2)By analyzing the response relationship between functional traits and climatic factors at different latitudes in northeastern China,the factors influencing the functional traits of Pinus koraiensis and the adaptation strategies of Pinus koraiensis were further evaluated.(3)Variation of natural regenerate seedlings and cultured seedlings of Pinus koraiensis.By comparing the traits of natural regenerate and cultivated seedlings of Pinus koraiensis in Northeast China,we investigated the growth adaptation characteristics of Pinus koraiensis seedlings and the effects of environmental conditions on the regeneration.(4)The main influencing factors of the growth of Pinus koraiensis seedlings under the control conditions were determined by controlling the temperature and light conditions.The main conclusions of the paper are as follows:(1)It is significant that altitudes impact to the functional traits of Pinus koraiensis(P<0.01).This environmental heterogeneity lead to changes in temperature and precipitation conditions in each region was the main reasons of the functional traits' difference in Pinus koraiensis.The elevation of altitude caused a decrease in SLA,LT,and N/P,while an increased in LDMC,LNC,and LPC of Pinus koraiensis.Climatic factors at various altitudes were closely related to functional traits.And precipitation had a more pronounced effect on the functional traits than temperature.And Pinus koraiensis had adopted respectively different ecological response strategies for precipitation and temperature.In addition,the functional traits of Pinus koraiensis were closely related.With significant correlations between leaf area,leaf thickness,and leaf dry matter the correlations between leaf thickness and leaf nitrogen and phosphorus content were significant.Therefore,the relationship between functional traits of Pinus koraiensis reflected the regulation of the resources distributions of organs and tissues.(2)The latitudinal gradient of the functional traits of Pinus koraiensis was different,which was mainly related to the variation of geographical and climatic factors(P<0.01).The main factors affecting the functional traits of Pinus koraiensis were annual precipitation(AP),potential evapotranspiration(PET),followed by obvious effects including altitude,latitude,growth seasonal precipitation(GSP)and the lowest monthly mean temperature(MTCM),and the effects of longitude and annual mean temperature(MAT)were not obvious.The linear relationship between SLA,LT and LDMC was obvious,and the linear relationship was significant with leaf nitrogen and phosphorus.The linear relationship between LNC and LPC and RNC and RPC was obvious;the linear relationship between SRL,LT and LNC was significant.Precipitation and temperature changes are the main reasons for the close correlation between functional traits of Pinus koraiensis,which reflects the adaptation of Pinus koraiensis to habitat variation.Finally the size of the research scale would change the response degree of the environmental factors of the functional traits,and the reduction of the scale would make the deepened influence of the climate on the functional traits of Pinus koraiensis.At the same time,the correlation between the climate and the traits would be deepened.(3)Compared with the same age,with the increase of latitude,the natural and cultural seedlings of Pinus koraiensis had similar responses to geographical and climatic factors.However,under the same temperature and precipitation,the natural regenerate seedlings had more advantages in habitat adaptability,and cultural seedlings had obvious advantages in growth and nutritional absorption.These two situations reflected the different growth strategies adopted by Pinus koraiensis during different environmental conditions.This feature would have a significant impact on their respective future growth.(4)There were significant differences in leaf and leaf traits of temperature and light(P<0.01).The difference of leaf traits was caused by temperature,light and seedling independent and interact effects.The influence degree was as follows:seedling age>temperature>temperature x light x seedling age>light>light x seedling age>temperature x light>temperature x seedling age.Temperature and seedling age effects were more effective(0.945,0.672),and the effect of light on the basis of the two.The linear relationship between leaf traits of Pinus koraiensis seedlings was the result of response to temperature,light and seedling age.The aim of the relationship between the assimilation and alienation of plants is to maintain the stable growth of the seedlings of Pinus koraiensis.Through the evaluation of responses of Pinus koraiensis functional traits to shift environment,while the experimental comparison were different,the responses of Pinus koraiensis functional traits were consistent and learn from each other in nature.In contrast,when comparing the responses of natural seedlings and artificial seedlings,there was a great difference between the two,and a difference in sensitivity to climate.This study provided data support for quantifying the functional trait dynamics of Pinus koraiensis in the future.And it had implications for solving the problems of regeneration and protection of natural Pinus koraiensis forests,as well as had certain reference value for solving the difficulties of cultivation and breeding of the Pinus koraiensis in normal management.