TANG Songbo1,2,3，ZHANG Lingling1， KUANG Yuanwen1,3， YAN Junhua1,3， CHEN Fenglin3
(1. Key Laboratory of Vegetation Restoration and Management of Degraded Ecosystems, South China Botanical Garden, Chinese Academy of Sciences, SCBG, CAS, Guangzhou 510650, China;
2. University of Chinese Academy of Science, UCAS, Beijing 100049, China;
3.Guangdong Provincial Key Laboratory of Applied Botany, Guangzhou 510650, China)
Abstract: Understanding leaf construction costs (CC) of dominant species in Karst forest is the theoretical basis for the research on adaption and survival strategies of species on Karst environment as well as for vegetation restoration, forest reconstruction of the degraded Karst ecosystems. In this study, 34 dominant species in Guizhou Karst forests were sampled for leaf CC analysis. Relationships between CC and leaf mass area, contents of soluble phenols, sugars, lipids, proteins, lignin, mineral and organic acids in the leaves were also detected. Results showed that: 1) the mean leaf CC of karst species was 1.37 ± 0.05 g glucose/g DW, significantly lower than those from non-karst forests; 2) the leaf CC was negatively related with the leaf contents of organic acids and minerals, which might be associated with the adaption of those species on the high alkalinity environment; 3) the contents of proteins, organic acids and the CC in paperly and deciduous leaves were significantly higher and lower than those in leathery and evergreen ones, respectively, showing the species with paperly and deciduous leaves are more suitable for the reforestation in Karst regions; 4) the species with a higher adaption capacity on Ca + Mg had lower leaf CC and higher organic acids, indicating the calciphile and preference species are potentially important for the vegetation restoration in Karst areas.
Key words: Karst forest; Leaf construction costs; Dominant species; Chemical composition; Survival strategies
EARTH AND ENVIRONMENT Vol.45, No.1 Tot No.315, 2017, Page 18-24
