Altitudinal variation of leaf morphological traits in the Fandoghlo forest

Understanding the adaptation mechanisms of plants to the environmental changes, especially altitudes is very important. In this study, we analyzed leaf morphology traits (leaf width, length, area, thickness, water content, relative water content, leaf mass per area, specific leaf area, and dry matter concentration) in ۱۸ different tree species, growing along an elevational gradient (۱,۳۰۰–۱,۷۰۰ m) in the forest ecosystem of Fandoglo Region in Ardabil, NW Iran. The results showed that for all traits, altitudinal trends tended to be highly consistent between species, except for LW, LL, and LA. Almost all the traits tended to be lower at high altitudes than at low altitudes, except WC and SLA. In general, the study has increased our knowledge of the response of plants to altitudinal gradients.

Keywords:

Adaptation , Altitude , environmental condition , Fandoglo , Leaf morphology.