Extreme warming coordinately shifts root and leaf traits of alpine plants towards conservatism

Climate change-induced shifts in plant functional traits can profoundly affect the stability of plant communities and ecosystem functions. However, the way in which leaf and root traits coordinate in response to climate extremes remains poorly understood. Here we measured sixteen leaf and root traits of ten dominant plant species from a Tibetan alpine grassland to explore whether extreme warming leads to coupled/decoupled responses of root and leaf traits. We found that extreme warming increased the investment in defensive traits of plant leaves, but this came at the expense of plant growth. Specifically, warming increased the concentration of defensive compounds (tannin) in leaves by 44.4% but decreased leaf mass by 12.3%. More importantly, we found that the changes in leaf and root traits in response to extreme warming were coupled, resulting in both systems adopting more conservative strategies. For instance, extreme warming reduced leaf area and simultaneously increased root tissue ..., Species culture and laboratory-controlled extreme warming experiment In August 2020, a survey was conducted in the alpine meadows at Haibei Station to assess biomass and identify dominant species based on relative biomass abundance. From May to August 2021, seeds from over 30 common species were collected for germination. Based on survey and pre-experiment results, 10 dominant plant species were selected for the experiment, including 2 types of grasses (Stipa aliena and Elymus nutans), 2 types of sedges (Carex alatauensis and Carex buchananii), 2 types of legumes (Tibetia himalaica and Oxytropis ochrocephala), and 4 types of forbs (Saussurea superba, Saussurea nigrescens, Gentiana straminea and Aster diplostephioides), which together accounted for 48.54% of the total biomass. In our laboratory-controlled extreme warming experiment, spanning one growing season (from May to September), we employed temperature gradient plates (Model GRD-1; Grant Scientific Inc., Cambridgeshire, UK) to appl..., , # Dataset for \"Extreme warming coordinately shifts root and leaf traits of alpine plants towards conservatism\" #### File: Data-Extreme\_warming\_coordinately\_shifts\_root\_and\_leaf\_traits\_of\_alpine\_plants\_towards\_conservatism.xlsx **Description:** This dataset contains leaf and root traits values of 10 species we chose in our research. ##### Variables * Species: The Latin names of 10 species * Genus: Genus of 10 species * Family: Family of 10 species * Treatment: Control (16℃) or Extreme warming (+4=20℃) * LC: Leaf carbon content (%) * LN: Leaf nitrogen content (%) * LA: Leaf area (cm2) * LM: Leaf mass (g) * SLA: Specific leaf area (cm2 g-1) * Photo: Net photosynthetic rate (µmol m-2 s-1) * SPAD: Relative value of chlorophyll content in leaf (%) * Lignin: Lignin content (mg g-1) * Tannin: Tannin content (mg kg-1) * SRL: Specific root length (m g-1) * SRA: Specific root area (cm2 g-1) * RTD: Root tissue density (g cm3) * RC: Root carbon content (%) * RN: Root nitrogen content...,气候变化引发的植物功能性状偏移可深刻影响植物群落稳定性与生态系统功能，但叶片与根系性状协同响应气候极端事件的机制仍未明确。本研究测定了青藏高原高寒草地10个优势植物物种的16项叶片及根系性状，旨在探究极端增温是否会引发根系与叶片性状产生协同或解偶联响应。研究结果显示，极端增温提升了植物叶片的防御性状投入，但却以植物生长为代价：具体而言，极端增温使叶片内防御性化合物单宁（tannin）的浓度升高44.4%，同时使叶片干重降低12.3%。更重要的是，本研究发现叶片与根系性状在响应极端增温时呈现协同变化，使得两套系统均采取更为保守的生存策略。例如，极端增温降低了叶面积，同时提升了根系组织……，物种培养与实验室控制极端增温实验 2020年8月，研究团队于海北站高寒草甸开展调查，基于相对生物量丰度评估群落生物量并确定优势物种。2021年5月至8月，收集了30余种常见植物的种子用于萌发实验。基于前期调查与预实验结果，最终筛选出10个优势植物物种开展实验，包括2种禾草（异针茅*Stipa aliena*、垂穗披碱草*Elymus nutans*）、2种莎草（阿拉善苔草*Carex alatauensis*、布坎南苔草*Carex buchananii*）、2种豆科植物（高山豆*Tibetia himalaica*、黄花棘豆*Oxytropis ochrocephala*）以及4种杂类草（美丽风毛菊*Saussurea superba*、黑紫风毛菊*Saussurea nigrescens*、麻花艽*Gentiana straminea*、重冠紫菀*Aster diplostephioides*），上述物种合计占群落总生物量的48.54%。 本实验室控制的极端增温实验涵盖一个完整生长季（2021年5月至9月），研究团队采用温度梯度板（temperature gradient plates，型号GRD-1；英国剑桥郡Grant Scientific公司生产）进行增温处理……，# 数据集名称：《极端增温协同调控高寒植物根系与叶片性状向保守策略偏移》 #### 文件：Data-Extreme_warming_coordinately_shifts_root_and_leaf_traits_of_alpine_plants_towards_conservatism.xlsx **描述：** 本数据集包含本研究所选10个物种的叶片与根系性状数值。 ##### 变量说明： * Species：10个物种的拉丁学名 * Genus：10个物种的属名 * Family：10个物种的科名 * Treatment：对照（16℃）或极端增温（+4℃，即20℃） * LC：叶片碳含量（%） * LN：叶片氮含量（%） * LA：叶面积（cm²） * LM：叶片干重（g） * SLA：比叶面积（Specific leaf area，cm²·g⁻¹） * Photo：净光合速率（μmol·m⁻²·s⁻¹） * SPAD：叶片叶绿素相对含量（%） * Lignin：木质素含量（mg·g⁻¹） * Tannin：单宁（tannin）含量（mg·kg⁻¹） * SRL：比根长（Specific root length，m·g⁻¹） * SRA：比根面积（Specific root area，cm²·g⁻¹） * RTD：根系组织密度（Root tissue density，g·cm⁻³） * RC：根系碳含量（%） * RN：根系氮含量……