Drivers of the differentiation between broad-leaved trees and shrubs in the shift from evergreen to deciduous leaf habit in forests of eastern Asian subtropics

doi:10.1016/j.pld.2022.12.008

Plant Diversity ›› 2023, Vol. 45 ›› Issue (05): 535-543.DOI: 10.1016/j.pld.2022.12.008

Drivers of the differentiation between broad-leaved trees and shrubs in the shift from evergreen to deciduous leaf habit in forests of eastern Asian subtropics

Yi Jin^a, Hong Qian^b

a. Key Laboratory of National Forestry and Grassland Administration on Biodiversity Conservation in Karst Mountainous Areas of Southwestern China, Guizhou Normal University, Guiyang 550025, China;
b. Research and Collections Center, Illinois State Museum, 1011 East Ash Street, Springfield, IL, 62703, USA

收稿日期:2022-08-01 修回日期:2022-12-26 出版日期:2023-09-25 发布日期:2023-11-04
通讯作者: Yi Jin,E-mail:codon@126.com
基金资助:
This work was supported by the Natural Science and Technology Foundation of Guizhou Province [[2020]1Z013]; and the Joint Fund of the National Natural Science Foundation of China and the Karst Science Research Center of Guizhou Province [U1812401].

Drivers of the differentiation between broad-leaved trees and shrubs in the shift from evergreen to deciduous leaf habit in forests of eastern Asian subtropics

Yi Jin^a, Hong Qian^b

a. Key Laboratory of National Forestry and Grassland Administration on Biodiversity Conservation in Karst Mountainous Areas of Southwestern China, Guizhou Normal University, Guiyang 550025, China;
b. Research and Collections Center, Illinois State Museum, 1011 East Ash Street, Springfield, IL, 62703, USA

Received:2022-08-01 Revised:2022-12-26 Online:2023-09-25 Published:2023-11-04
Contact: Yi Jin,E-mail:codon@126.com
Supported by:
This work was supported by the Natural Science and Technology Foundation of Guizhou Province [[2020]1Z013]; and the Joint Fund of the National Natural Science Foundation of China and the Karst Science Research Center of Guizhou Province [U1812401].

摘要/Abstract

摘要： In eastern Asian subtropical forests, leaf habit shifts from evergreen to deciduous broad-leaved woody plants toward higher latitudes. This shift has been largely explained by the greater capacity of deciduous broad-leaved plants to respond to harsh climatic conditions (e.g., greater seasonality). The advantages of deciduous leaf habit over evergreen leaf habit in more seasonal climates have led us to hypothesize that leaf habits would shift in response to climate changes more conspicuously in forest canopy trees than in forest understory shrubs. Furthermore, we hypothesize that in the forests of the subtropics, plants at higher latitudes, regardless of growth form, would better tolerate seasonal harsh climates, and hence show less differentiation in leaf habit shift, compared to those at lower latitudes. To test these two hypotheses, we modelled the proportion of deciduous broad-leaved species and the incidence of deciduous and evergreen broad-leaved species in woody angiosperm species compositions of ten large-sized forest plots distributed in the Chinese subtropics. We found that the rate of leaf habit shift along a latitudinal gradient was higher in forest trees than in forest shrubs. We also found that the differentiation in leaf habit shift between trees and shrubs is greater at lower latitudes (i.e., warmer climates) than at higher latitudes (i.e., colder climates). These findings indicate that specialized forest plants are differentially affected by climate in distinct forest strata in a manner dependent on latitudinal distribution. These differences in forest plant response to changes in climate suggest that global climate warming will alter growth forms and geographical distributions and ranges of forests.

关键词: Functional trait, Leaf life span, Forest dynamics plot, Latitudinal gradient

Abstract: In eastern Asian subtropical forests, leaf habit shifts from evergreen to deciduous broad-leaved woody plants toward higher latitudes. This shift has been largely explained by the greater capacity of deciduous broad-leaved plants to respond to harsh climatic conditions (e.g., greater seasonality). The advantages of deciduous leaf habit over evergreen leaf habit in more seasonal climates have led us to hypothesize that leaf habits would shift in response to climate changes more conspicuously in forest canopy trees than in forest understory shrubs. Furthermore, we hypothesize that in the forests of the subtropics, plants at higher latitudes, regardless of growth form, would better tolerate seasonal harsh climates, and hence show less differentiation in leaf habit shift, compared to those at lower latitudes. To test these two hypotheses, we modelled the proportion of deciduous broad-leaved species and the incidence of deciduous and evergreen broad-leaved species in woody angiosperm species compositions of ten large-sized forest plots distributed in the Chinese subtropics. We found that the rate of leaf habit shift along a latitudinal gradient was higher in forest trees than in forest shrubs. We also found that the differentiation in leaf habit shift between trees and shrubs is greater at lower latitudes (i.e., warmer climates) than at higher latitudes (i.e., colder climates). These findings indicate that specialized forest plants are differentially affected by climate in distinct forest strata in a manner dependent on latitudinal distribution. These differences in forest plant response to changes in climate suggest that global climate warming will alter growth forms and geographical distributions and ranges of forests.

Key words: Functional trait, Leaf life span, Forest dynamics plot, Latitudinal gradient

Yi Jin, Hong Qian. Drivers of the differentiation between broad-leaved trees and shrubs in the shift from evergreen to deciduous leaf habit in forests of eastern Asian subtropics[J]. Plant Diversity, 2023, 45(05): 535-543.

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Drivers of the differentiation between broad-leaved trees and shrubs in the shift from evergreen to deciduous leaf habit in forests of eastern Asian subtropics

Drivers of the differentiation between broad-leaved trees and shrubs in the shift from evergreen to deciduous leaf habit in forests of eastern Asian subtropics

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