Sexually differential tolerance to water deficiency of Salix paraplesia—A female‐biased alpine willow
Abstract Salicaceae plants are dioecious woody plants. Previous studies have shown that male individuals are more tolerant to water deficiency than females for male‐biased poplars. However, Salix paraplesia is a female‐biased species in nature. It is still unknown whether female willows are more tol...
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doaj-30d80177a3f74e87864b9d7bee27cdec2021-03-02T05:08:04ZengWileyEcology and Evolution2045-77582019-08-019158450846410.1002/ece3.5175Sexually differential tolerance to water deficiency of Salix paraplesia—A female‐biased alpine willowJun Liao0Haifeng Song1Duoteng Tang2Sheng Zhang3Key Laboratory of Mountain Surface Processes and Ecological Regulation, Institute of Mountain Hazards and Environment Chinese Academy of Sciences Chengdu ChinaKey Laboratory of Mountain Surface Processes and Ecological Regulation, Institute of Mountain Hazards and Environment Chinese Academy of Sciences Chengdu ChinaKey Laboratory of Bio‐Resource and Eco‐Environment of Ministry of Education, College of Life Sciences Sichuan University Chengdu ChinaKey Laboratory of Bio‐Resource and Eco‐Environment of Ministry of Education, College of Life Sciences Sichuan University Chengdu ChinaAbstract Salicaceae plants are dioecious woody plants. Previous studies have shown that male individuals are more tolerant to water deficiency than females for male‐biased poplars. However, Salix paraplesia is a female‐biased species in nature. It is still unknown whether female willows are more tolerant to drought stress than males. To better understand the sexually different tolerance to water deficiency in willows, a greenhouse experiment combined with a field investigation was conducted, and physiological traits were tested in male and female S. paraplesia under a drought‐stressed condition (50% of soil water capacity). Our field investigation showed that S. paraplesia was a species with female‐biased sex ratio along altitude gradients (2,400 m, 2,600 m and 2,800 m) in their natural habitats. Our results showed that the height growth, biomass accumulation, total chlorophyll pigment content (TChl), and the net photosynthetic rate were higher in female willows than in males at the low and middle altitudes (2,400 m and 2,600 m) rather than at a high altitude (2,800 m) under well‐watered conditions. Under drought‐stressed conditions, the growth, biomass, and photosynthesis were greatly inhibited in both sexes, while females showed higher biomass and TChl content and suffered less negative effects than did males. Particularly, females that originated from a high altitude showed lower leaf relative electrolyte leakage, malondialdehyde content, and less disorder of chloroplast ultrastructures but a higher peroxidase activity (POD) than that of males. Therefore, S. paraplesia females exhibited a better drought tolerance and self‐protective ability than males from high altitude. There is a reason to speculate that the population structure of S. paraplesia at a high altitude would be likely to further female biases with the increased drought intensity in the alpine regions.https://doi.org/10.1002/ece3.5175alpinedioecydroughtsex ratiowillow |
collection |
DOAJ |
language |
English |
format |
Article |
sources |
DOAJ |
author |
Jun Liao Haifeng Song Duoteng Tang Sheng Zhang |
spellingShingle |
Jun Liao Haifeng Song Duoteng Tang Sheng Zhang Sexually differential tolerance to water deficiency of Salix paraplesia—A female‐biased alpine willow Ecology and Evolution alpine dioecy drought sex ratio willow |
author_facet |
Jun Liao Haifeng Song Duoteng Tang Sheng Zhang |
author_sort |
Jun Liao |
title |
Sexually differential tolerance to water deficiency of Salix paraplesia—A female‐biased alpine willow |
title_short |
Sexually differential tolerance to water deficiency of Salix paraplesia—A female‐biased alpine willow |
title_full |
Sexually differential tolerance to water deficiency of Salix paraplesia—A female‐biased alpine willow |
title_fullStr |
Sexually differential tolerance to water deficiency of Salix paraplesia—A female‐biased alpine willow |
title_full_unstemmed |
Sexually differential tolerance to water deficiency of Salix paraplesia—A female‐biased alpine willow |
title_sort |
sexually differential tolerance to water deficiency of salix paraplesia—a female‐biased alpine willow |
publisher |
Wiley |
series |
Ecology and Evolution |
issn |
2045-7758 |
publishDate |
2019-08-01 |
description |
Abstract Salicaceae plants are dioecious woody plants. Previous studies have shown that male individuals are more tolerant to water deficiency than females for male‐biased poplars. However, Salix paraplesia is a female‐biased species in nature. It is still unknown whether female willows are more tolerant to drought stress than males. To better understand the sexually different tolerance to water deficiency in willows, a greenhouse experiment combined with a field investigation was conducted, and physiological traits were tested in male and female S. paraplesia under a drought‐stressed condition (50% of soil water capacity). Our field investigation showed that S. paraplesia was a species with female‐biased sex ratio along altitude gradients (2,400 m, 2,600 m and 2,800 m) in their natural habitats. Our results showed that the height growth, biomass accumulation, total chlorophyll pigment content (TChl), and the net photosynthetic rate were higher in female willows than in males at the low and middle altitudes (2,400 m and 2,600 m) rather than at a high altitude (2,800 m) under well‐watered conditions. Under drought‐stressed conditions, the growth, biomass, and photosynthesis were greatly inhibited in both sexes, while females showed higher biomass and TChl content and suffered less negative effects than did males. Particularly, females that originated from a high altitude showed lower leaf relative electrolyte leakage, malondialdehyde content, and less disorder of chloroplast ultrastructures but a higher peroxidase activity (POD) than that of males. Therefore, S. paraplesia females exhibited a better drought tolerance and self‐protective ability than males from high altitude. There is a reason to speculate that the population structure of S. paraplesia at a high altitude would be likely to further female biases with the increased drought intensity in the alpine regions. |
topic |
alpine dioecy drought sex ratio willow |
url |
https://doi.org/10.1002/ece3.5175 |
work_keys_str_mv |
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