牛角藓(Cratoneuronfilicinum(Hedw.)Spruce)叶片形态特征的生态变异及其分类学意义

对200份牛角藓(Cratoneuron filicinum)标本的叶片长度、叶片宽度、中肋基部宽度、叶片中部细胞的宽度和长度、角部细胞的宽度和长度及叶片弯曲程度等特征进行线性回归分析。结果表明,在较低样本量时,来源于不同生境的牛角藓叶片各性状特征间的线性相关性不显著,来源于水生群落的牛角藓叶片各性状特征间的线性相关性显著。在样本量较大时,牛角藓叶片各性状特征间的线性关系相关性显著。说明牛角藓叶片的某些特征在自然选择压力下发生了变化,表现出较高的遗传多样性;这些特征虽然受环境影响而在形态上表现出变异,但总的趋势是相似的。

Altitudinal differences in the leaf fitness of juvenile and mature alpine spruce trees (Picea crassifolia)

In many plant species, leaf morphology varies with altitude, an effect that has been attributed to temperature. It remains uncertain whether such a trend applies equally to juvenile and mature trees across altitudinal gradients in semi-arid mountain regions. We examined altitude-related differences in a variety of needle characteristics of juvenile (2-m tall) and mature (5-m tall) alpine spruce (Picea crassifolia Kom.) trees growing at altitudes between 2501 and 3450 m in the Qilian Mountains of northwest China. We found that stable carbon isotope composition (delta C-13), area- and mass-based leaf nitrogen concentration (N-a, N-m), number of stomata per gram of nitrogen (St/N), number of stomata per unit leaf mass (St/LM), projected leaf area per 100 needles (LA) and leaf mass per unit area (LMA) varied nonlinearly with altitude for both juvenile and mature trees, with a relationship reversal point at about 3 100 m. Stomatal density (SD) of juvenile trees remained unchanged with altitude, whereas SD and stomatal number per unit length (SNL) of mature spruce initially increased with altitude, but subsequently decreased. Although several measured indices were generally found to be higher in mature trees than in juvenile trees, N-m, leaf carbon concentration (C.), leaf water concentration. (LWC), St/N, LA and St/LM showed inconsistent differences between trees of different ages along the altitudinal gradient. In both juvenile and mature trees, VC correlated significantly with LMA, N-m, N-a, SNL, St/LM and St/N. Stomatal density, LWC and LA were only significantly correlated with delta C-13 in mature trees. These findings suggest that there are distinct ecophysiological differences between the needles of juvenile and mature trees that determine their response to changes in altitude in semi-arid mountainous regions. Variations in the fitness of forests of different ages may have important implications for modeling forest responses to changes in environmental conditions, such as predicted future temperature increases in high attitude areas associated with climate change.