Trait dimensions of abiotic stress tolerance in woody plants of the Northern Hemisphere

Description

Aim: Trade-offs among tolerances to different abiotic stressors limit polytolerance in woody plants. However, the general trait syndromes that underlie large-scale toler-ance patterns of woody plants remain controversial. Here, we tested if the leading trait dimensions that define the global spectrum of plant form and function capture the underlying trait trade-offs limiting woody plant polytolerance.Location: Northern Hemisphere.Time Period: Present.Major Taxa Studied: Woody plants.Methods: We used a dataset of 779 species to link the trait dimensions defining the global spectrum of plant form and function with two dimensions summarizing tolerance syn-dromes to drought, shade, cold and waterlogging. Stress tolerance dimensions were a trade-off between drought and cold/waterlogging tolerance strategies, and a shade toler-ance spectrum. Relationships among trait and stress tolerance dimensions were evaluated using general additive models separately for deciduous and evergreen angiosperms, and evergreen gymnosperms.Results: Drought-tolerant angiosperms showed greater specific stem density (SSD) and seed mass (SM), and lower specific leaf area (SLA) and leaf nitrogen content per mass (LN), compared to the cold/waterlogging-tolerant species. Shade-tolerant angio-sperms displayed greater SSD and SM and lower SLA and LN compared to intolerant angiosperms. Highly contrasting trait adaptations also distinguished drought- (greater SSD, SM and lower SLA, LN) from shade-tolerant evergreen gymnosperms.Main Conclusions: The 'SSD–SM' and the 'SLA–LN' dimensions mainly distinguish cold or drought-tolerant woody angiosperms and shade- or drought-tolerant gym-nosperms. Our results also support a conservative trait strategy for shade-tolerant compared to shade-intolerant species, with some differences between plant func-tional types probably due to contrasting leaf lifespans. Overall, our findings identify some leading functional constraints on polytolerance in woody plants and provide a framework to integrate additional trait dimensions to fully elucidate such constraint.

Abstract

Estonian Research Council - PSG293

Abstract

MCIN/AEI/10.13039/501100011033 - IJC2020-043331-I

Abstract

MCIN/AEI/10.13039/501100011033 FEDER - PID2021-122214NA-I00

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