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Environmental Factors at Different Canopy Heights Had Significant Effects on Leaf Water-Use Efficiency in Cold-Temperate Larch Forest

Zhaoxin Ge, Xiuling Man, Tijiu Cai, Beixing Duan, Ruihan Xiao and Zhipeng Xu
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Zhaoxin Ge: School of Forestry, Northeast Forestry University, Harbin 150040, China
Xiuling Man: School of Forestry, Northeast Forestry University, Harbin 150040, China
Tijiu Cai: Key Laboratory of Sustainable Forest Ecosystem Management-Ministry of Education, Northeast Forestry University, Harbin 150040, China
Beixing Duan: School of Forestry, Northeast Forestry University, Harbin 150040, China
Ruihan Xiao: School of Forestry, Northeast Forestry University, Harbin 150040, China
Zhipeng Xu: School of Forestry, Northeast Forestry University, Harbin 150040, China

Sustainability, 2022, vol. 14, issue 9, 1-16

Abstract: It is of great significance to study short-term water-use efficiency (WUE s ) at different canopy heights for accurately evaluating the adaptability of cold-temperate larch ( Larix gmelinii ) forest to climate change. The stable isotope method combining data of gradient meteorology, photosynthetic properties and leaf structure were used to assess the influence of different canopy heights on short-term water-use efficiency (WUE s ) in larch forests in the northern Da Hinggan Mountains. The results show that: (1) The rank of leaf WUE s at different canopy heights was upper canopy > middle canopy > lower canopy. The leaf WUE s in upper canopy was significantly higher than those in the middle and lower canopy ( p < 0.01), and no significant difference was found between the middle and lower canopy ( p > 0.05). (2) The environmental factors, the photosynthetic characteristics, the specific leaf weight (LMA) and stomatal density (SD) had significant impact ( p < 0.05) on leaf WUE s at different canopy heights of larch forest. (3) The results of the weighted random forest analysis show that the main factor affecting WUE s in larch forests at different canopy heights was vapor pressure deficit (VPD), followed by relative humidity (RH) and net photosynthetic rate (Pn), while LMA and SD made relatively small contributions. This indicates that the variation of leaf WUE s at different canopy heights is mainly due to environmental factors. Our results highlight that the difference of environmental factors at different canopy heights should be considered in the future study of leaf WUE. Our results contribute to a better understanding of water utilization strategies and carbohydrate relations in the boreal forest ecosystems, which is of great significance for improving the sustainable management measures and strategies of boreal forest resources.

Keywords: cold-temperate zone; larch forest; canopy heights gradient; WUE s; influencing factors (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: O13 Q Q0 Q2 Q3 Q5 Q56 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2022
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