Interaction Mechanism Between Epilithic Mosses Functional Traits And Habitat In Typical Karst Area

The moss are the pioneer plants of primary succession.Habitat is very important to the growth and adaptability of plants.The epilithic mosses are affected by strong drought in karst area.However,the plant long-term growth has formed a set of functional characteristics to adapt to the karst heterogeneous environment.The object of study will select the epilithic mosses in typical karst area,and use a combination of field surveys,indoor and outdoor experiments to analyze the microclimate characteristics and the composition of epilithic mosses in different habitats.The dominant species of epilithic mosses suitable for the growth of different habitats and the common dominant species of epilithic mosses in different habitats will be screened for plant functionality characters study.The functional characters of epilithic mosses mainly include morphological characters,stem and leaf characters,nutritional characters and water conservation functions in different habitats.But the ecological characters are mainly the climate change above plants and the difference of soil nutrients.Through correlation analysis,the interaction mechanism between the functional characters of epilithic mosses and their habitats in typical karst rocky desertification areas was mastered.It will be helpful to use epilithic mosses to promote the primary succession process,vegetation restoration and ecosystem improvement,and it can accumulate basic data and provide scientific theoretical support for karst areas.The main conclusions are as follows:(1)Habitat heterogeneity resulted in differences of microclimate and epilithic mosses composition in different types of niches in typical karst areas.Firstly,the air temperature,air relative humidity,light intensity and rock temperature had significant differences in different habitats.Secondly,there were altogether 63 species of 14 families,28 genera in the karst area.Due to the difference of habitats,the species of epilithic mosses in karst area were the most in bare land and arbor woodland.There were 9 dominant species in the karst area,including Didymodon constrictus var.constrictus,Hyophila acutifolia,Taxiphyllum taxirameum,Hypnum leptothallum,Bryum argenteum.,Bryum funkii,Anomodon minor subsp Integerrimus,Racopilum cuspidigerum,Homalothecium leucodonticaule.The dominant species of epilithic mosses in the habitats of the four different types included Hypnum leptothallum,Hyophila acutifolia,Didymodon constrictus var.constrictus and Bryum funkii.(2)Among the functional characters of epilithic mosses in typical karst areas,the morphological characteristics mainly included four types of life forms: Turfs,Wefts,Pendant and Cushion.The stem and leaf epidermal cells of the nine dominant species all thickened to varying degrees.The epidermis ranged from 1 to 2 layers,with the majority being in the 1 layer.Among the four common dominant species of epilithic mosses in different habitats,most of the epilithic mosses nutrients were higher in the arbor woodland.Bryum funkii had the highest nutrient elements.Hypnum leptothallum chlorophylls were high in arbor woodland.The epilithic mosses had strong water absorption and water retention capacity.(3)Among the main microclimates around the dominant species of common epilithic mosses in different types of habitats in typical karst areas,the microclimate in rainy season(July)was better than that in dry season(April),which was more conducive to the growth of epilithic mosses.The microclimate regulation was the best in shrub land and arbor woodland,while that was the worst in bare land and grassland.The improvement of the microclimate by epilithic mosses and cuspidate leaf on epilithic mosses was the best good.For soil nutrients,epilithic mosses played an important role in improving soil physical and chemical properties and soil structure,especially in shrub land and arbor woodland.For soil nutrients,the base nutrient content of the epilithic mosses soil were different in different habitats.The soil nutrient content of Hyophila acutifolia and Bryum funkii were relatively rich,which can improve the physical,chemical properties and structure of soil,especially in the shrub land and arbor woodland.(4)Rock exposure rate,air relative humidity,and moisture were the main environmental factors that affected the distribution and plant functional traits of epilithic moss in typical karst areas.There were synergistic effects between the functional traits of the lithophyte,and there were both synergistic and antagonistic effects between the environmental factors and the functional traits of the lithophyte.Own environmental factors were used to improve the niche of survival.