Differences in morphological traits and covariation characteristics of Grimmia pilifera in different microhabitats
[Objective]Grimmia pilifera is a typical drought-tolerant saxicolous moss species,which is widely distributed in northern and southern provinces of China.Its growth is often limited by drought and barren growth environment,and it is one of the pioneers in nature.To study the differences and covariant characteristics of morphological and structural traits of G.pilifera in different microhabitats,so as to provide basic data for the study of the drought tolerance mechanism of mosses and the in-depth revelation of the adaptation mechanism of drought-tolerant saxicolous mosses in different microenvironments.[Method]G.pilifera individuals were used to study the differences and covariant characteristics of various traits in three microhabitats with different shading degrees.Habitat S1 was bare rock shaded openly by bamboo individuals,habitat E was exposed rock,and habitat S2 was bare rock shaded completely by Ficus pumila individuals.The 15 studied morphological and structural traits were 7 single plant traits(including middle blade angle,middle leaf length,middle hair length,up hair length,plant height,plant width with hairs,plant width without hairs.)and 8 stem and leaf microstructure traits(including stem length,stem width,cell length in stem,cell width in stem,stem cell density,thickness of leaf midrib,cell length in leaf,cell width in leaf.).The variable coefficient of each trait was measured and calculated.[Result]Among the single plant traits,the maximum values of plant height,plant width,plant width(with leaf hairs),leaf angle,and middle leaf length all appeared in habitat S1.Moreover,the minimum values were found mostly in habitat E,whereas the middle hair length showed the order of S2>E>S1.No matter what kind of microhabitat,the variability of hair length is higher than other traits.Among the stem and leaf microstructure traits,the cell length in stem,cell length in leaf,and cell width in leaf were significantly higher in habitat S1 than that in habitat E,whereas the other five stem and leaf microstructural traits did not significantly differ among the three microhabitats(P>0.05).Leaf cells were the largest in habitat S1,followed by habitat S2,and the smallest in habitat E.All traits belonged to moderate to low degree of variation,with a certain plasticity.Principal component analysis revealed that the covariation characteristics of all 15 traits of G.pilifera were not completely consistent in various microhabitats and demonstrated obvious differentiation.The comprehensive growth performance of G.pilifera in habitat S1 was relatively good.[Conclusion]Under three different microhabitats,the growth performance reflected by the morphological and structural traits of G.pilifera was as follows:S1>S2>E.A certain covariant trend existed among the functional traits,but differences existed among microhabitats,which result from long-term response and adaptation to different microenvironments.The results of this study can provide a theoretical basis for further exploring the response and adaptation of special plant groups such as mosses to different microhabitats.
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