The interrelationship between the economic traits and hydraulic traits
of leaves and roots: An integrated perspective in changing
environments—A case study of cotton
Abstract
Changing environments can alter plant functional traits in agricultural
ecosystems, leading to shifts in plant resource utilization strategies.
The plant trait network can integrate economic, hydraulic, and
anatomical traits to reflect plants’ adaptation and responses to
environmental changes from multiple perspectives. This study
quantitatively analyzed the economic and hydraulic traits of leaves and
roots in three cotton varieties under changing environments with
different CO 2 concentrations and water or salt stress,
exploring the impact of changing environments on plant functional traits
and resource utilization strategies. The results showed that under water
or salt stress, the leaf economic spectrum (LES) exhibited a
conservative strategy, while the root economic spectrum (RES) displayed
an acquisitive strategy. Under elevated CO 2
concentration, LES, RES, and hydraulic traits of both leaf and root
showed conservative strategies. Additionally, under changing
environments, the trade-off between LES and leaf hydraulic traits
demonstrates a congruent resource utilization pattern, whereas the
trade-off between RES and root hydraulic traits demonstrates an inverse
pattern. We also found that changing environments altered the centrality
of the plant traits network. Overall, the multi-faceted study of plant
functional traits and their interrelationships provides a crucial basis
for understanding the response of crops in agroecosystems to
environmental changes.