Liu, Qingqing and Huang, Zhijun and Wang, Zhengning and Chen, Yanfang and Liu, Bo and Tigabu, Mulualem
(2020).
Responses of leaf morphology, NSCs contents and C:N:P stoichiometry of Cunninghamia lanceolata and Schima superba to shading.
BMC Plant Biology. 20
, 354
[Research article]
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Abstract
Background The non-structural carbohydrates (NSCs), carbon (C), nitrogen (N), and phosphorus (P) are important energy source or nutrients for all plant growth and metabolism. To persist in shaded understory, saplings have to maintain the dynamic balance of carbon and nutrients, such as leaf NSCs, C, N and P. To improve understanding of the nutrient utilization strategies between shade-tolerant and shade-intolerant species, we therefore compared the leaf NSCs, C, N, P in response to shade between seedlings of shade-tolerant Schima superba and shade-intolerant Cunninghamia lanceolate. Shading treatments were created with five levels (0, 40, 60, 85, 95% shading degree) to determine the effect of shade on leaf NSCs contents and C:N:P stoichiometry characteristics.ResultsMean leaf area was significantly larger under 60% shading degree for C. lanceolata while maximum mean leaf area was observed under 85% shading degree for S. superba seedlings, whereas leaf mass per area decreased consistently with increasing shading degree in both species. In general, both species showed decreasing NSC, soluble sugar and starch contents with increasing shading degree. However shade-tolerant S. superba seedlings exhibited higher NSC, soluble sugar and starch content than shade-intolerant C. lanceolate. The soluble sugar/starch ratio of C. lanceolate decreased with increasing shading degree, whereas that of S. superb remained stable. Leaf C:N ratio decreased while N:P ratio increased with increasing shading degree; leaf C:P ratio was highest in 60% shading degree for C. lanceolata and in 40% shading degree for S. superba.
Conclusion S. superba is better adapted to low light condition than C. lanceolata through enlarged leaf area and increased carbohydrate reserves that allow the plant to cope with low light stress. From mixed plantation viewpoint, it would be advisable to plant S. superba later once the canopy of C. lanceolata is well developed but allowing enough sunlight.
Authors/Creators: | Liu, Qingqing and Huang, Zhijun and Wang, Zhengning and Chen, Yanfang and Liu, Bo and Tigabu, Mulualem | ||||||
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Title: | Responses of leaf morphology, NSCs contents and C:N:P stoichiometry of Cunninghamia lanceolata and Schima superba to shading | ||||||
Series Name/Journal: | BMC Plant Biology | ||||||
Year of publishing : | 2020 | ||||||
Volume: | 20 | ||||||
Article number: | 354 | ||||||
Number of Pages: | 10 | ||||||
Publisher: | BMC | ||||||
ISSN: | 1471-2229 | ||||||
Language: | English | ||||||
Publication Type: | Research article | ||||||
Article category: | Scientific peer reviewed | ||||||
Version: | Published version | ||||||
Copyright: | Creative Commons: Attribution 4.0 | ||||||
Full Text Status: | Public | ||||||
Subjects: | (A) Swedish standard research categories 2011 > 1 Natural sciences > 106 Biological Sciences (Medical to be 3 and Agricultural to be 4) > Botany (A) Swedish standard research categories 2011 > 4 Agricultural Sciences > 401 Agricultural, Forestry and Fisheries > Forest Science | ||||||
Keywords: | Cunninghamia lanceolate, Light adaptation, Non-structural carbohydrate, Soluble sugar, Starch | ||||||
URN:NBN: | urn:nbn:se:slu:epsilon-p-107341 | ||||||
Permanent URL: | http://urn.kb.se/resolve?urn=urn:nbn:se:slu:epsilon-p-107341 | ||||||
Additional ID: |
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ID Code: | 17518 | ||||||
Faculty: | S - Faculty of Forest Sciences | ||||||
Department: | (S) > Southern Swedish Forest Research Centre | ||||||
Deposited By: | SLUpub Connector | ||||||
Deposited On: | 22 Sep 2020 09:56 | ||||||
Metadata Last Modified: | 15 Jan 2021 19:26 |
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