Leaf traits of 66 herbaceous species in Songnen grassland in Northeast China

Abstract

Leaf traits such as specific leaf area (SLA) and leaf nitrogen concentration (LNC) play important roles in plant functioning and are affected strongly by ecosystem properties and local environmental conditions. Quantifying the relationships between leaf traits and traits differences among plant functional groups has received increasing attentions in plant functional ecology over the past two decades. We measured in total 7 leaf traits: SLA, LNC, leaf dry matter content (LDMC), leaf thickness (LT), leaf phosphorus concentration (LPC), leaf chlorophyll (a+b) content (Chl) and leaf carotenoid content (Cd) among 66 herbaceous species. And we analyzed the correlation between leaf traits and the traits difference among perennial rhizome grass (PR), perennial bunchgrasses (PB), perennial forbs (PF) and annuals/ biannuals (AB) in Songnen grassland, Northeast China. The results showed that LT variation (59. 1%) was the highest among the 7 leaf traits measured. Pearson correlation showed that SLA, LNC, LPC, Chl and Cd were positively correlated with each other significantly. There was no significant correlation between LDMC and LPC, however, LDMC was negatively correlated with all other leaf traits significantly. LT was only negatively correlated to LDMC and SLA significantly, but not with others. LDMC, SLA, LT, LNC, LPC were significantly different among the 4 plant functional groups analyzed by one-way ANOVA (P < 0. 05). There was no difference between Chl and Cd. PR and PB had no difference among the 7 leaf traits. The LDMC of PR and PB were significantly higher than PF and AB. SLA, LNC, LPC of PR and PB were lower than PF and AB.