ORIGINAL RESEARCH article
Front. Plant Sci.
Sec. Functional Plant Ecology
Volume 16 - 2025 | doi: 10.3389/fpls.2025.1463237
Whole-plant trait networks reveal elevational optimization of resource strategies: Integration drives distribution in woody saplings
Provisionally accepted
- 1Tongren University, Tongren, China
- 2National Nature Reserve Administration of Fanjing Mountain, Tongren, China
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Plant trait networks (PTNs) reveal integrated adaptation strategies, but how elevational stress gradients reshape PTN architecture and influence species distribution remains unclear. We analyzed 14 leaf, stem, and root traits across 37 woody sapling species along a 600-2200 m elevational gradient on Mt. Fanjingshan, China. We linked PTN metrics (connectivity, modularity, hub traits) to environmental drivers and species distributions. PTN integration increased with elevation, evidenced by declining average path length (R² = 0.93, P = 0.008) and graph diameter (R² = 0.92, P = 0.011), indicating intensified trait coordination at higher elevations. Modularity peaked at mid-elevations (unimodal pattern: R² = 0.97, P = 0.017), reflecting heightened trade-offs between stress tolerance and resource acquisition. Crucially, litter depth and soil phosphorus-not climate-were the primary drivers of PTN structure, jointly explaining 84.2% of variation (P = 0.011) and promoting integration via root-hub traits (specific root length, specific root area). Species distribution was strongly correlated with PTN efficiency (84.8% explained variance, P = 0.038), driven by reduced graph diameter, greater litter depth, and lower temperature. These findings indicate that elevational stress selects for highly integrated PTNs optimized by belowground trait hubs and microhabitat buffering, highlighting litter-soil interactions as critical mediators of species distributions under climatic constraints.
Keywords: plant trait networks, elevation gradient, climate regulating, Trait integration, species distribution
Received: 24 Jul 2024; Accepted: 22 Aug 2025.
Copyright: © 2025 Wang, Li, Yang, Wang, Chen and Liu. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
* Correspondence: Min Liu, Tongren University, Tongren, China
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