Acta Agriculturae Zhejiangensis ›› 2021, Vol. 33 ›› Issue (2): 259-269.DOI: 10.3969/j.issn.1004-1524.2021.02.09

• Horticultural Science • Previous Articles     Next Articles

Plasticity of a karst endemic plant Juglans regia L. f. luodianense Liu et Xu in response to soil moisture

CHENG Jinga,b(), LIU Jiminga,b,*(), WANG Shua,b, WANG Denga,b, LI Lixiaa,b, XU Guoruia,b, CHEN Menga,b, HUANG Lutinga,b   

  1. a. College of Forestry, Guizhou University, Guiyang 550025, China
    b. Forest Ecology Research Center, Guizhou University, Guiyang 550025, China
  • Received:2020-07-03 Online:2021-02-25 Published:2021-02-25
  • Contact: LIU Jiming

Abstract:

To understand the adaptability and the plasticity difference of Karst endemic plants to different water conditions, taking 1-year-old Juglans regia L. f. luodianense Liu et Xu as the study material, the differences in plasticity of morphological, biomass allocation, physiological characteristics of seedlings of J. regia L. f. luodianense Liu et Xu were discussed under different water conditions [(100±5)%, (80±5)%, (60±5)%, (40±5)%]. The results showed that, compared with CK group, the response of J. regia L. f. luodianense Liu et Xu under high and low water stress was as follows: seedling height, ground diameter growth, root length, leaf area and specific leaf area all decreased; fleshy degree of leaves significantly decreased, and compactness of leaf tissue structure increased under moderate low water stress (40±5)%. Distribution of plant stem and leaf resources decreased, the root resource input and the root-cap ratio increased under moderate low water stress, and total biomass decreased. Net photosynthetic rate (Pn) and transpiration rate (Tr) were all reduced, stomatal conductance (Gs) was slightly increased at mild high water level (100±5)%, and intercellular CO2 concentration (Ci) was basically stable. The content of chlorophyll b and total amount of chlorophyll only increased under mild high water stress. Based on the plasticity indexes (ranging from 0.02 to 0.50) of seedlings of J. regia L. f.luodianense Liu et Xu under different water conditions, the net photosynthetic rate was up to 0.50, followed by leaf area and stem biomass, and chlorophyll a had a minimum plasticity of 0.02. There were significant differences in the sensitivity and regulatory mechanism to the plastic responses of different water conditions of seedlings of J. regia L. f. luodianense Liu et Xu, which were regulated by leaf area, stem biomass, and net photosynthetic rate. Under normal water supply (80±5)% and mild high water stress (100±5)%, the water demand for the growth of seedlings of J. regia L. f.luodianense Liu et Xu could be satisfied.

Key words: Karst endemic plant, Juglans regia L. f. luodianense Liu et Xu, soil moisture, plasticity

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