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چکیده
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Structural traits of leaves are important for understanding plant ecological strategies. The aim of this study was to investigate the leaf morpho-anatomical features of four dominant woody species as Quercus brantii (QB), Crataegus aronia (CA), Acer monspessulanum, and Pistacia atlantica (PA), in sub-humid vs. semi-arid of the Zagros forests in west of Iran. The effects of climate on dry matter content (DMC), stomatal length (SL), stomatal width (SW) and stomatal pore index (SPI) were significant. The climate × species interaction was significant for all leaf traits assessed. Leaf length (LL), specific leaf area (SLA), stomatal density (SD) and SPI were higher in P. atlantica growing in the semi-arid climate. In A. monspessulanum, SLA was higher in the sub-humid climate. The three other tree species had highest DMC in the sub-humid climate. SL and SW were higher in C. aronia and A. monspessulanum in the sub-humid climate. SD in C. aronia was also higher in the sub-humid climate. In the sub-humid climate, SPI was higher in Q. brantii and C. aronia. In general, DMC, SLA, SL, SW, SD and SPI traits were higher in the trees growing in a sub-humid climate. These results show the response of leaf functional traits to climate changes as trees in humid climates demonstrate more morpho-anatomical adaptations than the drier climates. The woody species co-habiting in the same environment employ different leaf traits adaptive strategies, i.e. conservative and acquisitive. These findings will assist in determining the most important adaptive parameters of trees to the climate changes, to provide inputs to global environmental models.
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