Do Bryophyte Elemental Concentrations Explain Their Morphological Traits?
Differences in the elemental composition of plants, mainly C, N, and P, have been shown to be related to differences in their nutritional status, and their morphological and functional traits. The relationship between morphological traits and micronutrients and trace elements, however, has been much...
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doaj-616e00a3c9094f94ab2fcd56289581562021-08-26T14:14:08ZengMDPI AGPlants2223-77472021-07-01101581158110.3390/plants10081581Do Bryophyte Elemental Concentrations Explain Their Morphological Traits?Marcos Fernández-Martínez0Jordi Corbera1Oriol Cano-Rocabayera2Francesc Sabater3Catherine Preece4Research Group PLECO (Plants and Ecosystems), Department of Biology, University of Antwerp, 2610 Wilrijk, BelgiumDelegació de la Serralada Litoral Central, ICHN, 08302 Mataró, Catalonia, SpainDelegació de la Serralada Litoral Central, ICHN, 08302 Mataró, Catalonia, SpainDelegació de la Serralada Litoral Central, ICHN, 08302 Mataró, Catalonia, SpainResearch Group PLECO (Plants and Ecosystems), Department of Biology, University of Antwerp, 2610 Wilrijk, BelgiumDifferences in the elemental composition of plants, mainly C, N, and P, have been shown to be related to differences in their nutritional status, and their morphological and functional traits. The relationship between morphological traits and micronutrients and trace elements, however, has been much less studied. Additionally, in bryophytes, research devoted to investigating these relationships is still very scarce. Here, we analysed 80 samples from 29 aquatic and semi-aquatic (hygrophytic) moss species living in Mediterranean springs to investigate the relationship between moss nutrient concentrations and their micro- and macroscopic morphological traits and growth forms. We found that, across species, the elemental concentration of mosses was more tightly linked to macroscopic traits than to microscopic traits. Growth forms could also be successfully explained by the concentration of elements in mosses. Apart from macronutrients and their stoichiometric ratios (C:N, C:P, and N:P), micronutrients and trace elements were also important variables predicting moss morphological traits and growth forms. Additionally, our results showed that microscopic traits were well related to macroscopic traits. Overall, our results clearly indicate that the elemental composition of mosses can be used to infer their morphological traits, and that elements other than macronutrients should be taken into account to achieve a good representation of their morphological and, potentially, functional traits when comparing the elemental composition across species.https://www.mdpi.com/2223-7747/10/8/1581stoichiometrymorphologytraitselemental compositionmosscell |
collection |
DOAJ |
language |
English |
format |
Article |
sources |
DOAJ |
author |
Marcos Fernández-Martínez Jordi Corbera Oriol Cano-Rocabayera Francesc Sabater Catherine Preece |
spellingShingle |
Marcos Fernández-Martínez Jordi Corbera Oriol Cano-Rocabayera Francesc Sabater Catherine Preece Do Bryophyte Elemental Concentrations Explain Their Morphological Traits? Plants stoichiometry morphology traits elemental composition moss cell |
author_facet |
Marcos Fernández-Martínez Jordi Corbera Oriol Cano-Rocabayera Francesc Sabater Catherine Preece |
author_sort |
Marcos Fernández-Martínez |
title |
Do Bryophyte Elemental Concentrations Explain Their Morphological Traits? |
title_short |
Do Bryophyte Elemental Concentrations Explain Their Morphological Traits? |
title_full |
Do Bryophyte Elemental Concentrations Explain Their Morphological Traits? |
title_fullStr |
Do Bryophyte Elemental Concentrations Explain Their Morphological Traits? |
title_full_unstemmed |
Do Bryophyte Elemental Concentrations Explain Their Morphological Traits? |
title_sort |
do bryophyte elemental concentrations explain their morphological traits? |
publisher |
MDPI AG |
series |
Plants |
issn |
2223-7747 |
publishDate |
2021-07-01 |
description |
Differences in the elemental composition of plants, mainly C, N, and P, have been shown to be related to differences in their nutritional status, and their morphological and functional traits. The relationship between morphological traits and micronutrients and trace elements, however, has been much less studied. Additionally, in bryophytes, research devoted to investigating these relationships is still very scarce. Here, we analysed 80 samples from 29 aquatic and semi-aquatic (hygrophytic) moss species living in Mediterranean springs to investigate the relationship between moss nutrient concentrations and their micro- and macroscopic morphological traits and growth forms. We found that, across species, the elemental concentration of mosses was more tightly linked to macroscopic traits than to microscopic traits. Growth forms could also be successfully explained by the concentration of elements in mosses. Apart from macronutrients and their stoichiometric ratios (C:N, C:P, and N:P), micronutrients and trace elements were also important variables predicting moss morphological traits and growth forms. Additionally, our results showed that microscopic traits were well related to macroscopic traits. Overall, our results clearly indicate that the elemental composition of mosses can be used to infer their morphological traits, and that elements other than macronutrients should be taken into account to achieve a good representation of their morphological and, potentially, functional traits when comparing the elemental composition across species. |
topic |
stoichiometry morphology traits elemental composition moss cell |
url |
https://www.mdpi.com/2223-7747/10/8/1581 |
work_keys_str_mv |
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