植物叶片形态的生态功能、地理分布与成因

Leaf morphological traits:ecological function,geographic distribution and drivers

叶片是植物与环境进行水气交换的重要场所,形态多变。叶片形态可直接影响植物的生理生化过程,反映植物的资源获取策略。该文以叶片大小、叶形、叶缘特征(有无叶齿)和叶型(单、复叶)等形态性状为例,总结了当前叶片形态的研究进展,分析了叶形态性状的生态功能,综述叶片形态的地理分布,探讨叶片形态性状变化的驱动因素及其对生态系统功能的影响。现有研究主要聚焦于局域尺度的特定类群,关注叶大小、叶缘具齿性以及叶型的地理分布与生态成因,发现叶片的形态发育受基因调控,叶形态性状与其他性状相互权衡,其空间变异受气温和降水量共同驱动。以叶大小为代表的叶片形态性状影响水分和养分循环,能够反映气候变化下的群落响应,也可用于预测生态系统初级生产力。今后应结合新方法获得覆盖度高且区域无偏的数据,探索叶形态在长时间尺度上的适应性进化,研究叶形态特征及其对生态系统功能影响的尺度推绎。该文有助于从叶片的角度认识植物对环境变化的响应,以性状为桥梁将个体适合度、群落动态与生态系统功能联系起来,能够加深对植物群落生态学和功能生物地理学等相关领域研究进展的了解。

Leaf is one of the important organs of plants that facilitates the exchange of water and air with the surrounding environment.The morphological variation of leaves directly affect the physiological and biochemical processes of plants,which also reflects the adaptive strategies of plants to obtain resources.By focusing on several leaf morphological traits,including leaf size,leaf shape,leaf margin(with or without teeth)and leaf type(i.e.single vs.compound leaf),here,we reviewed the relevant research progresses in this field.We summarized the ecological functions of leaf morphological traits,identified their geographical distribution patterns,and explored the underlying environmental drivers,potential ecological interactions,and their effects on ecosystem functioning.We found that the current studies exploring the distribution and determinants of leaf size and leaf margin states mainly focused on single or specific taxon in local regions.Studies have also explored the genetic mechanisms of leaf morphology development.Leaf traits trade off with other functional traits,and their spatial variation is driven by both temperature and water availability.Leaf morphological traits,especially leaf size,influence water and nutrient cycling,reflect the response of communities to climate change,and can be scaled up to predict ecosystem primary productivity.Further studies should pay attention to combine new approaches to obtain unbiased data with high coverage,to explore the long-term adaptive evolution of leaf morphology,and to generalize the scaling in leaf morphology and its effect on ecosystem functioning.Leaf provides an important perspective to understand how plants respond and adapt to environmental changes.Studying leaf morphological traits provides insight into species fitness,community dynamics and ecosystem functioning,and also improves our understanding of the research progresses made in related fields,including plant community ecology and functional biogeography.