Abstract:
To investigate the response patterns of woody plants in the Lhasa River Basin to climatic conditions corresponding to different altitudes, four dominant local plant species were selected as research subjects:
Berberis hemsleyana Ahrendt,
Populus × beijingensis W. Y. Hsu,
Salix cheilophila C. K. Schneid, and
Rosa sericea Lindl. Leaf functional traits, including leaf area (LA), specific leaf area (SLA), leaf density (LD), leaf water content (LWC), stomatal density (SD), stomatal length (SL), leaf thickness (LT), and leaf dry matter content (LDMC), were measured to reveal their response to elevation. The results showed that: (1) With increasing elevation, LD, LT, and LDMC of the four plant species exhibited significant upward trends, while SD showed an initial increase followed by a decrease (
P < 0.05). (2) As elevation increased, the SL of
B. hemsleyana and
P. × beijingensis first decreased and then increased. Additionally, the LA and SLA of
P. × beijingensis,
R. sericea, and
S. cheilophila showed significant decreases. (3) Different species adopted varied adaptive strategies for leaf functional traits in response to environmental changes.
S. cheilophila exhibited higher SD and LD but a smaller LA, reflecting enhanced efficiency in water and nutrient absorption. In contrast,
B. hemsleyana featured thicker LT but relatively lower LA, SLA, LDMC, and LD. (4) Significant correlations were observed among leaf functional traits. SLA and LT, and LA and LT also showed a significant negative correlation (
P < 0.05). Moreover, LD was positively and significantly correlated with both LDMC and LT (
P < 0.01), indicating that the coordination among leaf functional traits plays a key role in plant adaptation to the environment. Our results provide an important research foundation for predicting the adaptability of local woody plants to future environmental changes.