Age-related variations of needles and twigs in nutrient, nonstructural carbon and isotope composition along altitudinal
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Age-related variations of needles and twigs in nutrient, nonstructural
carbon and
isotope
composition along
altitudinal gradients TANG Duo-teng1
https://orcid.org/0000-0002-0327-4379; e-mail: [email protected]
PENG Guo-quan2 ZHANG Sheng1*
https://orcid.org/0000-0001-7645-6723; e-mail: [email protected] https://orcid.org/0000-0001-5322-9704;
e-mail: [email protected]
*Corresponding author 1 College of Life Science, Sichuan University, Chengdu 610065, China 2 College of Chemistry and Life Sciences, Zhejiang Normal University, Jinhua 321004, China Citation: Tang GT, Peng GQ, Zhang S (2019) Age-related variations of needles and twigs in nutrient, nonstructural carbon and isotope composition along altitudinal gradients. Journal of Mountain Science 16(7). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11629018-5344-0
© Science Press, Institute of Mountain Hazards and Environment, CAS and Springer-Verlag GmbH Germany, part of Springer Nature 2019
Abstract: The biochemical and physiological properties of alpine woody plants responding to elevation are associated with needles and twigs age. However, the interactions with elevation were not well studied. In this study, we investigated age-related (current, one-year and two-year old) functional traits of Abies faxoniana in needles and twigs with elevation (2500 m, 2750 m, 3000 m, 3250 m, and 3500 m a.s.l) at the eastern edge of the Tibetan Plateau. The macro-elements (C, N, P, K, Ca, and Mg), nonstructural carbons (soluble sugar, sucrose, and starch) and isotope composition (δ13C) were measured in needles and twigs of adult A. faxoniana trees (breast height diameter about 30 cm). There were significant age, elevation and their interaction effects on these traits (except for δ13C). Compared with twoyear-old needles and twigs, the current and one-yearold tissues possessed higher concentrations of P and K, lower Ca concentrations, as well as a lower δ13C values and C: P and N: P ratios in needles. The current-year twigs generally had higher sucrose concentration and sucrose: starch ratio than the old ones. This study suggested that more nutrients were invested to young needles and twigs to cope with Received: 16-Dec-2018 Revised: 16-Feb-2019 Accepted: 17-Feb-2019
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elevation for A. faxoniana than the old ones. Keywords: Fir; Elevation; Nutrient; Age; Needle and twig; Sub-alpine
Introduction Needles and twigs are important tissues for assimilation and transportation for conifers. Lifespan of needles and twigs is a comprehensive trait that reflects the adaptive strategy to the environment for plants to achieve maximum photosynthetic production and maintain efficient nutrient utilization (Eckstein et al. 1999). It has been reported that plant tissues show kinds of physiological changes associated with age. Comparing with juvenile needles, the mature needles of Pinus koraiensis accumulated more nonstructural carbon (NSC) due to a higher photosynthetic capacity (Yan et al. 2012). However, younger tissues possessed higher nutrient conc
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