Effects of leaf silicon on drought performance of tropical tree seedlings.
Biol Lett
; 20(3): 20230451, 2024 03.
Article
em En
| MEDLINE
| ID: mdl-38442870
ABSTRACT
Elevated leaf silicon (Si) concentrations improve drought resistance in cultivated plants, suggesting Si might also improve drought performance of wild species. Tropical tree species, for instance, take up substantial amounts of Si, and leaf Si varies markedly at local and regional scales, suggesting consequences for seedling drought resistance. Yet, whether elevated leaf Si improves seedling drought performance in tropical forests is unknown. To manipulate leaf Si concentrations, seedlings of seven tropical tree species were grown in Si-rich and -poor soil, before exposing them to drought in the forest understorey. Survival, growth and wilting were monitored. Elevated leaf Si did not improve drought survival and growth in any of the species. In one species, drought survival was reduced in seedlings previously grown in Si-rich soil, contrary to our expectation. Our results suggest that elevated leaf Si does not improve drought resistance of wild tropical tree species. Elevated leaf Si may even reduce drought performance, suggesting differences in soil conditions influencing leaf Si may contribute to soil-related variation of tropical seedling performance. Furthermore, our results are at odds with most studies on cultivated species and show that alleviative effects of Si in crops cannot be generalized to wild plants in natural systems.
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01-internacional
Base de dados:
MEDLINE
Assunto principal:
Árvores
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Plântula
Idioma:
En
Revista:
Biol Lett
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Biol. lett. (Online)
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Biology letters (Online)
Assunto da revista:
BIOLOGIA
Ano de publicação:
2024
Tipo de documento:
Article
País de afiliação:
Alemanha