Leaf macro-and micro-morphological altitudinal variability of Carpinus betulus in the Hyrcanian forest (Iran)

作     者：Iman Chapolagh Paridari Seyed Gholamali Jalali Ali Sonboli Mehrdad Zarafshar Piero Bruschi 

作者机构：Department of Forestry Natural Resources Faculty Tarbiat Modares University Department of Biology Medicinal Plants and Drugs Research Institute Shahid Beheshti University Department of Agriculture Biotechnology - Section of Environmental and Applied Botany University of Florence 

出 版 物：《Journal of Forestry Research》 (林业研究（英文版）)

年 卷 期：2013年第24卷第2期

页      面：301-307页

核心收录：

学科分类：07[理学] 0713[理学-生态学] 

主　　题：adaptation elevational transect leaf mountain forest stomata 

摘      要：We investigated the altitudinal variation of Carpinus betulus L. in the Hyrcanian forest using leaf macro-morphological and micro-morphological traits. We collected a total of 1600 leaves from two locations. In each location, we sampled six populations along an altitudinal gradient ranging from 100 m to 1,150 m. We found that trees in the higher elevations have smaller leaf lamina than those in the lower elevations. In contrast, leaf mass per area was high at low altitudes and increased newly at the higher ones. Stomatal dimension was negatively correlated with elevation, while stomatal density was positively correlated with elevation. We also found that two transects showed the same plasticity trend. Leaf area showed the highest plasticity, while the number of veins showed the lowest plasticity. This study shows that altitude, and related temperature and rainfall, represents an important driving force in Carpinus betulus leaf morphological variation. Moreover, our results suggest that leaf area, leaf mass per area and stomatal density could influence the species responses to different ecological conditions.