Evidence map›Paper›PMID 26644341›Full record

ArticleAoB PLANTS2015

Understanding the wide geographic range of a clonal perennial grass: plasticity versus local adaptation.

Yanjie Liu, Lirong Zhang, Xingliang Xu, Haishan Niu

Open access · goldAbstract read
In one paragraph

Article in AoB PLANTS, 2015. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 4 papers.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
4citing papers in PubMed
1.7field-weighted citation impact, top 14% of its field
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

4 citing papers in PubMed, 17 citations in OpenAlex.

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4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

4 authors at 4 institutions in 2 countries.

Yanjie LiuCollege of Resources and Environment, University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, No. 19A Yuquan Road, Beijing 100049, China Ecology, Department of Biology, University of Konstanz, Universitätsstrasse 10, Konstanz D-78457, Germany.
Lirong ZhangKey Laboratory of Alpine Ecology and Biodiversity, Institute of Tibetan Plateau Research of Chinese Academy of Sciences, No. 16 Lincui Road, Beijing 100101, China.
Xingliang XuKey Laboratory and Ecosystem Network Observation and Modelling, Institute of Geographic Sciences and Natural Resources Research, Chinese Academy of Sciences, No. 11A Datun Road, Beijing 100101, China.
Haishan NiuCollege of Resources and Environment, University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, No. 19A Yuquan Road, Beijing 100049, China niuhs@ucas.ac.cn.
Chinese Academy of Sciences · CNInstitute of Tibetan Plateau Research · CNUniversity of Chinese Academy of Sciences · CNUniversity of Konstanz · DE

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

Both phenotypic plasticity and local adaptation may allow widely distributed plant species to either acclimate or adapt to environmental heterogeneity. Given the typically low genetic variation of clonal plants across their habitats, phenotypic plasticity may be the primary adaptive strategy allowing them to thrive across a wide range of habitats. In this study, the mechanism supporting the widespread distribution of the clonal plant Leymus chinensis was determined, i.e. phenotypic plasticity or local specialization in water use efficiency (WUE; reflected by foliar δ(13)C). To test whether plasticity is required for the species to thrive in different habitats, samples were collected across its distribution in the Mongolian steppe, and a controlled watering experiment was conducted with two populations at two different sites. Five populations were also transplanted from different sites into a control environment, and the foliar δ(13)C was compared between the control and original habitats, to test for local specialization in WUE. Results demonstrated decreased foliar δ(13)C with increasing precipitation during controlled watering experiments, with divergent responses between the two populations assessed. Change in foliar δ(13)C (-3.69 ‰) due to water addition was comparable to fluctuations of foliar δ(13)C observed in situ (-4.83 ‰). Foliar δ(13)C differed by -0.91 ‰ between two transplanted populations; however, this difference was not apparent between the two populations when growing in their original habitats. Findings provide evidence that local adaptation affects foliar δ(13)C much less than phenotypic plasticity. Thus, plasticity in WUE is more important than local adaptation in allowing the clonal plant L. chinensis to occupy a wide range of habitats in the Mongolian steppe.

Indexed as

ecotypegenetic differentiationLeymus chinensisphenotypic plasticityspecies distributionwater use efficiencyδ13C

Identifiers

PMID26644341
PMCPMC4705351
OpenAlexW2275179462

What OpenQuestion holds

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Registered trials

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Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.