Leaf functional traits have more contributions than climate to the variations of leaf stable carbon isotope of different plant functional types on the eastern Qinghai-Tibetan Plateau

Miao Chen; Zuomin Shi; Shun Liu; Gexi Xu; Xiangwen Cao; Jian Chen; Miaomiao Zhang; Qiuhong Feng; Mauro Centritto; Jiahao Cao

doi:10.1016/j.scitotenv.2023.162036

Leaf functional traits have more contributions than climate to the variations of leaf stable carbon isotope of different plant functional types on the eastern Qinghai-Tibetan Plateau

Sci Total Environ. 2023 May 1:871:162036. doi: 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2023.162036. Epub 2023 Feb 4.

Authors

Miao Chen¹, Zuomin Shi², Shun Liu¹, Gexi Xu¹, Xiangwen Cao¹, Jian Chen¹, Miaomiao Zhang¹, Qiuhong Feng³, Mauro Centritto⁴, Jiahao Cao⁵

Affiliations

¹ Key Laboratory of Forest Ecology and Environment of National Forestry and Grassland Administration, Ecology and Nature Conservation Institute, Chinese Academy of Forestry, Beijing 100091, China; Miyaluo Research Station of Alpine Forest Ecosystem, Lixian County, Sichuan 623100, China.
² Key Laboratory of Forest Ecology and Environment of National Forestry and Grassland Administration, Ecology and Nature Conservation Institute, Chinese Academy of Forestry, Beijing 100091, China; Miyaluo Research Station of Alpine Forest Ecosystem, Lixian County, Sichuan 623100, China; Co-Innovation Center for Sustainable Forestry in Southern China, Nanjing Forestry University, Nanjing 210037, China; Institute for Sustainable Plant Protection, National Research Council of Italy, Torino 10135, Italy. Electronic address: shizm@caf.ac.cn.
³ Ecological Restoration and Conservation on Forest and Wetland Key Laboratory of Sichuan Province, Sichuan Academy of Forestry, Chengdu 610081, China.
⁴ Institute for Sustainable Plant Protection, National Research Council of Italy, Torino 10135, Italy.
⁵ Institute of Forestry Science of Bailongjiang in Gansu Province, Lanzhou 730046, China.

PMID: 36746282
DOI: 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2023.162036

Abstract

Elucidating the mechanisms that control the leaf stable carbon isotope values (δ¹³C_leaf) is the prerequisite for the widespread application of δ¹³C_leaf. However, the competing effects of physiological and environmental factors on δ¹³C_leaf variations of the different plant functional types (PFTs) have not been disentangled, and the corresponding mechanisms remain unclear. Based on large-scale δ¹³C_leaf measurements on the eastern Qinghai-Tibetan Plateau, the relative contributions and regulatory pathways of leaf functional traits (LFTs) and climatic factors to δ¹³C_leaf variations of the different PFTs were investigated. We found that δ¹³C_leaf of the different PFTs was correlated with annual mean precipitation negatively, but not a simple linear relationship with annual mean temperature and varied by PFTs. Leaf nitrogen content per unit area and leaf mass per area (correlated with δ¹³C_leaf positively) had more substantial effects on the δ¹³C_leaf variations of the different PFTs than other LFTs. The relative contributions of LFTs to the δ¹³C_leaf variations were greater than that of climatic factors, and the direct and indirect effects of climatic factors on δ¹³C_leaf variations varied by PFTs. Our findings provide new insights into understanding key drivers of δ¹³C_leaf variations at the PFT level on a regional scale.

Keywords: Annual mean precipitation; Annual mean temperature; Leaf mass per area; Leaf nitrogen content per unit area; Leaf stable carbon isotope; Plant functional types.

MeSH terms

Carbon Isotopes / analysis
Carbon* / metabolism
Climate*
Plant Leaves / chemistry
Plants / metabolism
Tibet

Substances

Carbon Isotopes
Carbon