Response of Carex moorcroftii leaf anatomy to habitat aridification

Subjects: Biology >> Botany >> Applied botany submitted time 2024-04-17 Cooperative journals: 《广西植物》

CAI Huiwen WANG Hongbing ZHANG Dacai

Abstract： Leaves are the largest and more sensitive vegetative organs exposed to external environmental conditions. In this paper, we aim to investigate the effects of arid habitat on the leaf anatomical structure of wetland plants, Carex moorcroftii leaf plots were set up along the gradient of arid habitat, and the response of leaf anatomical structure to arid habitat was investigated. The results were as follows: (1) The epidermal cells, vesicular cells and air cavity area on the distal surface of leaf tip and leaf bottom, leaf thickness and mechanical tissue thickness at leaf bottom were significantly positively correlated with soil volumetric moisture content (R2=0.06-0.34, P<0.01); The thickness of the cuticle, cell area, number of vascular bundles, and diameter of vascular bundles on the proximal axial surface of leaf apical, mesophyll, and basal regions were significantly negatively correlated with soil volumetric moisture content (R2=0.08-0.53, P<0.01). (2) The anatomical structure of leaf blade of C. moorcroftii had great plasticity (0.53-0.94) and variability (18%-63%), and vesicular cells, air cavities, and epidermal cells of the proximal axial surface had the greatest plasticity and variability, and the plasticity index and the coefficient of variation of the anatomical structure of the leaf bottom were significantly higher than that of the leaf tip and the middle part of the leaf (P<0.05). The plasticity of cuticle thickness and epidermal cell area on the proximal axial surface was significantly greater than that on the distal axial surface (P<0.05). When the habitat was aridified, C. moorcroftii leaves adapt to the arid habitat by thickening the cuticle on the proximal axial surface, increasing the epidermal cell area, decreasing the area of air cavities, and differentiating vesicular cells, and mainly adopted protective and frugal strategies to adapt to the arid habitat. The results of this study are helpful to reveal the response strategies of C. moorcroftii leaf anatomical structure to arid habitat, and provide theoretical reference for the protection and vegetation restoration of alpine meadow.

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