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Hydrological effects of plant on matric suction
Published in Charles W. W. Ng, Anthony K. Leung, Junjun Ni, Plant–Soil Slope Interaction, 2019
Charles W. W. Ng, Anthony K. Leung, Junjun Ni
The PC biplot shows strong correlations between hydrological reinforcement and certain plant traits (SLA, RLD and RSR), which may thus be used to identify the relative transpiration-induced suction from different species and the associated gain in soil strength. For the above-ground traits, SLA showed a positive linear correlation with MS (Figure 2.23). Hence, it was not the leaf biomass but rather the biomass allocation and investment such as leaf surface area that determined MS. The SLA is an indicator of a species’ energy strategy and adaptation to the environment. The SLAs of the selected deciduous species were higher than those of the selected evergreens (Table 2.4). The observed differences in SLA among the 10 species were attributable to the wide spectrum of leaf economics, which reflected the plant investment in leaf tissue (Wright et al., 2004). Thus, a low value of SLA implies more resistant leaves to grazing and mechanical damage and consequently a relatively longer leaf life span and a slow return on initial energy investment for the leaf (Wright et al., 2004; Poorter et al., 2009). In contrast, a high SLA value implies a fast return on energy investment, which would result in higher rates of net photosynthesis (Reich et al., 1997), potential growth (Grime et al., 1997) and transpiration (Reich et al., 1997). The fast return on energy investment represents the main biological reason for the correlation between SLA and MS (Figure 2.23). Under the temperate climate conditions in Europe, deciduous species are generally characterised by a high SLA and hence a faster return on energy investment and transpiration during the summer growing season (Bai et al., 2015). A recent study by Bochet and García-Fayos (2015) showed that SLA was a relevant trait for indicating plant competitiveness and success in establishing road embankments in semi-arid environments. Thus, SLA, whose measurement is relatively simple and quick, is a plant trait that can be used to assess the relative hydrological reinforcement and survival under the harsh environment of engineered slopes.
Investigation of phenolic compounds potential to reduce dust pollution of pomegranate trees
Published in International Journal of Phytoremediation, 2023
Afef Ben Amor, Rami Rahmani, Leila Bennani, Leila Ben Yahia, Khaoula Ben Atia Zrouga, Nizar Chaira, Kamel Nagaz
Several researches have shown that plant morphology, physiology and biochemistry were highly sensitive to dust pollution and this conlusion was confirmed in the present study which indicates various changes in leaves traits. The first change observed in pomegranate leaves was the decrease in leaf area and the appearance of necrosis. The necrosis was related to the reduction of chlorophyll content damaged by heavy metals concentration (Molnar et al. 2018; Muthu et al. 2021). In fact, fine dust particles can clog stomata, decrease the photosynthetic activities and total chlorophyll contents which induce the appreance of necrosis and chlorosis (Cao et al. 2019). The reduction of LA and SLA was also reduced under pollution condition. The SLA can define plants adaptation to environment stress and ability to resource (Zhu et al. 2020). Generally, plants with higher LA have stronger ability to maintain nutrition, however, plants with lower LA have stronger adaptability to environmental stress with poor resources (Zhu et al. 2020; Huang et al. 2021). The SLA of pomegranate leaves decreased significantly with the increase of Cu and Zn concentration. This results show that pomegranate trees adapt to dust pollution by reducing their SLA.
Responses of Eucalyptus globulus and Ficus nitida to different potential of heavy metal air pollution
Published in International Journal of Phytoremediation, 2020
A. A. El-Khatib, N. A. Youssef, N. A. Barakat, N. A. Samir
According to Barden (1977), SLA is affected by leaf growth, structure and net photosynthesis. LA and SLA are important factors in many agricultural and ecological processes, including photosynthesis, transpiration and field energy balance. At morphological level, the lowest values of LA and SLA during summer exhibited the smallest leaf lamina expansion, which is related to the high bioaccumulation of metals. Pollutants bioaccumulation has a negative effect on productivity according to several authors (Tiwari et al.2006; Seyyednejad et al.2011). These results agree with those of Winner (1989) and El-khatib et al. (2008, 2011) who reported that accumulation of air pollutants can cause the reduction in plant growth; consequently reduction in LA resulted that pollution stress modified the leaf structure of their studied species.
Diversification and trait evolution in New Zealand woody lineages across changing biomes
Published in Journal of the Royal Society of New Zealand, 2022
Esther E. Dale, Matthew J. Larcombe, Benjamin C. M. Potter, William G. Lee
Specific Leaf Area (SLA) – SLA encapsulates several key plant features, including relative growth rate, shade tolerance, and leaf longevity. Two leaf samples were taken from 10 individuals per species, and collected, stored and measured to determine SLA following the methods of Cornelissen et al. (2003). We used a flatbed scanner and ImageJ (1.49) to determine leaf area. For heteroblastic species (Pseudopanax crassifolius, P. ferox, and P. linearis) we sampled adult foliage.