Plant morphological traits and ecological stoichiometry in disturbed vs. conserved forests

TL;DR

The study compares plant traits in disturbed and conserved forests to understand how plants adapt to environmental changes.

Contribution

It provides new data on plant functional traits in disturbed forests, revealing distinct life history strategies compared to conserved forests.

Findings

Plant functional trait variability is lower in disturbed forests compared to conserved ones.

Stronger correlations among traits in disturbed forests suggest a resource conservative strategy.

Plants in disturbed forests show low specific leaf area and high tissue density with reduced nitrogen and phosphorus allocation.

Abstract

Global forests are currently facing significant anthropogenic disturbances. Previous research on plant functional traits has predominantly focused on relatively intact forests, often overlooking those that have experienced such disturbances. This oversight has lead to a scarcity of relevant data regarding disturbed forests in the global and Chinese plant functional trait databases, thereby limiting our understanding of the life history strategies employed by plants inhabiting these altered environments. This study presents data on 12 morphological traits and 24 ecological stoichiometry traits for 62 common species in disturbed forests and 43 species in conserved forests in East China. We analyzed the variability characteristics of these functional traits, explored functional trait differences between disturbed and conserved forests, and examined relationships among various functional traits to investigate disparities in life history strategies between the two forest types. The results indicated that the variability of plant functional traits was generally lower in disturbed forests compared to conserved ones. Most functional traits exhibited significant differences between the two forest types (P < 0.05). Additionally, stronger correlations among functional traits were noted in disturbed forests. From a functional trait perspective, plants in disturbed forests displayed high trait correlations and formed trait combinations indicative of a resource conservative strategy characterized by low specific leaf area, high dry matter content and tissue density across leaves, twigs, barks and stems; alongside heightened carbon investment but reduced al locations for nitrogen and phosphorus. A comprehensive investigation of plant functional traits in both disturbed and conserved forests will enrich the global and Chinese trait databases, providing insights into how forest plants adapt to disturbances and informing ecological restoration in degraded areas.

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