Asterisks indicate a significant correlation between environmental variables and functional traits (2-tailed) (*P<0.05;**P<0.01;***P<0.001). Abbreviations: SWC, soil water content; EC, electrical conductivity.
Significant regression relationships were only observed between functional traits and electrical conductivity, and these relationships were generally linear and logarithmic (Figure 2). For whole-plant traits variables, significantly logarithmic relationships were only found between the electrical conductivity and average height (P<0.001) of P. australis . For leaf traits, significant correlations were discovered in the relationship between electrical conductivity and leaf water content (P<0.05), specific leaf area (P<0.01), leaf area (P<0.001), and leaf thickness (P<0.01). For stem traits, significant correlations were observed between electrical conductivity and all selected stem traits, including pitch number (P<0.001), internode height (P<0.001), and base stem diameter (P<0.01). Moreover, positive relationships between electrical conductivity with leaf water content and leaf thickness were discovered.