Leaf stomatal traits rather than anatomical traits regulate gross primary productivity of moso bamboo (Phyllostachys edulis) stands

Wen Guo; Paolo Cherubini; Jian Zhang; Mai-He Li; Lianghua Qi

doi:10.3389/fpls.2023.1117564

Leaf stomatal traits rather than anatomical traits regulate gross primary productivity of moso bamboo (Phyllostachys edulis) stands

Front Plant Sci. 2023 Mar 14:14:1117564. doi: 10.3389/fpls.2023.1117564. eCollection 2023.

Authors

Wen Guo^{1

2}, Paolo Cherubini^{2

3}, Jian Zhang¹, Mai-He Li^{2

4

5}, Lianghua Qi¹

Affiliations

¹ Key Laboratory of National Forestry and Grassland Administration/Beijing Bamboo & Rattan Science and Technology, International Centre for Bamboo and Rattan, Beijing, China.
² Forest Dynamics, Swiss Federal Institute for Forest, Snow and Landscape Research WSL, Birmensdorf, Switzerland.
³ Department of Forest and Conservation Sciences, Faculty of Forestry, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, BC, Canada.
⁴ Key Laboratory of Geographical Processes and Ecological Security in Changbai Mountains, Ministry of Education, School of Geographical Sciences, Northeast Normal University, Changchun, China.
⁵ School of Life Science, Hebei University, Baoding, China.

Abstract

Leaf stomatal and anatomical traits strongly influence plant productivity. Understanding the environmental adaptation mechanisms of leaf stomatal and anatomical traits and their relationship with ecosystem productivity is essential to better understand and predict the long-term adaptation strategies to climate change of moso bamboo forests. Here, we selected 6 sites within the moso bamboo distribution area, measured 3 leaf stomatal traits and 10 leaf anatomical traits of unmanaged moso bamboo stands. We explored the spatial variation characteristics of these traits and their response to environmental changes, assessed the relationships among these traits at regional scales through network analysis, and tested the direct and indirect effects of environmental, leaf stomatal and anatomical traits on gross primary productivity (GPP) of bamboo stands using structural equation modeling (SEM). The results showed that both climate and soil factors significantly affected leaf stomatal and anatomical traits of moso bamboo. Solar radiation (SR) and mean annual precipitation (MAP) out of the climatic factors were the key drivers of variation in leaf stomatal and anatomical traits, respectively. Soil moisture and nutrients out of the soil properties significantly affected both leaf stomatal and anatomical traits of moso bamboo. Network analysis further indicated that there was a significant correlation between leaf stomata and anatomical traits. Stomatal size (SS) showed the highest centrality value at the regional scale, indicating that it plays a key role in adjusting the adaptation of plants to external environmental conditions. SEM analysis showed that environment did not directly but indirectly affect GPP via stomatal performance. The environment explained 53.3% and 39.2% of the variation in leaf stomatal and anatomical traits, respectively, and leaf stomatal traits explained 20.8% of the regional variation in GPP. Our results demonstrate a direct effect of leaf stomatal traits rather than leaf anatomical traits on bamboo ecosystem productivity, which provides new insights into model predictions of bamboo forests under global climate change.

Keywords: bamboo productivity; environment effects; leaf anatomy; leaf traits; structural equation modeling; trait coordination network.

Grants and funding

This work was supported by the Fundamental Research Funds for the International Centre for Bamboo and Rattan (1632019010) and the Chinese Scholarship Council (Grant No. 202003270039). Open access funding provided by WSL - Swiss Federal Institute For Forest, Snow And Landscape Research.