Leaf hydraulics coordinated with leaf economics and leaf size in mangrove species along a salinity gradient.

ABSTRACT

Independence among leaf economics, leaf hydraulics and leaf size confers plants great capability in adapting to heterogeneous environments. However, it remains unclear whether the independence of the leaf traits revealed across species still holds within species, especially under stressed conditions. Here, a suite of traits in these dimensions were measured in leaves and roots of a typical mangrove species, Ceriops tagal, which grows in habitats with a similar sunny and hot environment but different soil salinity in southern China. Compared with C. tagal under low soil salinity, C. tagal under high soil salinity had lower photosynthetic capacity, as indicated directly by a lower leaf nitrogen concentration and higher water use efficiency, and indirectly by a higher investment in defense function and thinner palisade tissue; had lower water transport capacity, as evidenced by thinner leaf minor veins and thinner root vessels; and also had much smaller single leaf area. Leaf economics, hydraulics and leaf size of the mangrove species appear to be coordinated as one trait dimension, which likely stemmed from co-variation of soil water and nutrient availability along the salinity gradient. The intraspecific leaf trait relationship under a stressful environment is insightful for our understanding of plant adaption to the multifarious environments.