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Diversity and mean specific leaf area of Mediterranean woody vegetation changes in response to summer drought across a double stress gradient: The role of phenotypic plasticity / Alejandro Carrascosa in Journal of vegetation science, vol 34 n° 2 (April 2023)  

Public [article]  inJournal of vegetation science > vol 34 n° 2 (April 2023) . - n° e13180 Titre : Diversity and mean specific leaf area of Mediterranean woody vegetation changes in response to summer drought across a double stress gradient: The role of phenotypic plasticity Type de document : Article/Communication Auteurs : Alejandro Carrascosa, Auteur ; Mariola Silvestre, Auteur ; Laura Morgado, Auteur ; et al., Auteur Année de publication : 2023 Article en page(s) : n° e13180 Note générale : bibliographie Langues : Anglais (eng) Descripteur : [Termes IGN] arbuste [Termes IGN] climat méditerranéen [Termes IGN] diagnostic foliaire [Termes IGN] Espagne [Termes IGN] facteur édaphique [Termes IGN] indice foliaire [Termes IGN] plante ligneuse [Termes IGN] sécheresse [Termes IGN] stress hydrique [Vedettes matières IGN] Végétation et changement climatique Résumé : Aim: Many aspects of vegetation response to increased drought remain uncertain but it is expected that phenotypic plasticity may be key to early adaptation of plants to environmental stress. In this work we observe the response of specific leaf area (SLA) of woody shrub vegetation to the summer drought typical of the Mediterranean climate. In addition, to observe the possible interaction between the impact of drought and the environmental characteristics of the ecosystems, communities from different edaphic and structural contexts distributed along the double stress gradient of the Mediterranean mountains (high temperature and low precipitation at low elevation; low temperature and high irradiation at high elevation) have been analysed. Location: Central Mountain range of the Iberian Peninsula. Methods: Along the entire altitudinal gradient, 33 shrub communities belonging to different habitat typologies (shrublands, rocky areas, hedgerows, understorey) were sampled before and after the passage of summer, both in 2017 and 2019. A total of 1724 individuals and 15,516 leaves were collected and measured to estimate the mean values and diversity of SLA of each community. Results: The community-weighted mean and functional divergence have inverse quadratic relationships with the environmental gradient. Shrub communities at both ends of the gradient have low mean SLA values and high functional divergence of this trait. Summer drought implies a generalised decrease in the mean SLA of the communities throughout the gradient, as well as an alteration in functional richness and uniformity. However, the effect of summer drought on the plant community is mediated by the microenvironmental characteristics of its habitat. Conclusions: Drought acclimatisation of shrub communities through phenotypic plasticity leads to rapid changes in their functional leaf structure. In the long term, our results point to an increase in plant conservative strategies, reduced ecosystem productivity, slower nutrient recycling and the reduction of communities of specific habitats as drought increases. Numéro de notice : A2023-223 Affiliation des auteurs : non IGN Thématique : FORET Nature : Article DOI : 10.1111/jvs.13180 Date de publication en ligne : 09/03/2023 En ligne : https://doi.org/10.1111/jvs.13180 Format de la ressource électronique : URL article Permalink : https://documentation.ensg.eu/index.php?lvl=notice_display&id=103172 [article]