Shi G¹, ZY Liu¹, T Baoyin¹, J Sun², JJ Duan³, XL Li³, GF Yang⁴

Phyton-International Journal of Experimental Botany, Vol.87, pp. 236-241, 2018, DOI:10.32604/phyton.2018.87.236

Abstract Plant functional traits and their effects on rangeland ecosystem function have received much attention by ecologists. However, the importance of functional traits and the interactive effects of grazing exclusion and climate are poorly understood. This study, therefore, aimed to analyse the response of Leymus chinensis functional traits in long-term grazing exclusion in different habitats (rainless typical steppe and rainy meadow steppe). This study showed that although the sensitivity and variability of different traits were similar in two steppe habitats, phenotypic plasticity of L. chinensis in meadow steppe was significantly higher than typical steppes. With the increased degree of plasticity, the… More >

Chengcheng Li¹, Chan Zhou², Yunfei Yang¹

Phyton-International Journal of Experimental Botany, Vol.88, No.1, pp. 55-61, 2019, DOI:10.32604/phyton.2019.04577

Abstract Ramet modules in a certain population differ in terms of functions, which accounts for different contributions of the same ramets. Shortening heading time brings about different contributions of such modules. Ramets heading one after another were treated as a continuum in respective cohorts of Elymus cylindricus aged two. The reproductive ramets that head earlier were marked with tags every four days during the whole heading stage from the beginning to the end, after which all the labeled ramets at the maturity period were gathered. The results showed that, the height and biomass of ramets, the length and biomass of inflorescences,… More >