AUTHOR=Xiao Yihua , Liu Shirong , Zhang Manyun , Tong Fuchun , Xu Zhihong , Ford Rebecca , Zhang Tianlin , Shi Xin , Wu Zhongmin , Luo Tushou 

TITLE=Plant Functional Groups Dominate Responses of Plant Adaptive Strategies to Urbanization

JOURNAL=Frontiers in Plant Science

VOLUME=12

YEAR=2021

URL=https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/plant-science/articles/10.3389/fpls.2021.773676

DOI=10.3389/fpls.2021.773676

ISSN=1664-462X

ABSTRACT=<p>Urbanization causes alteration in atmospheric, soil, and hydrological factors and substantially affects a range of morphological and physiological plant traits. Correspondingly, plants might adopt different strategies to adapt to urbanization promotion or pressure. Understanding of plant traits responding to urbanization will reveal the capacity of plant adaptation and optimize the choice of plant species in urbanization green. In this study, four different functional groups (herbs, shrubs, subcanopies, and canopies, eight plant species totally) located in urban, suburban, and rural areas were selected and eight replicated plants were selected for each species at each site. Their physiological and photosynthetic properties and heavy metal concentrations were quantified to reveal plant adaptive strategies to urbanization. The herb and shrub species had significantly higher starch and soluble sugar contents in urban than in suburban areas. Urbanization decreased the maximum photosynthetic rates and total chlorophyll contents of the canopies (<italic>Engelhardtia roxburghiana</italic> and <italic>Schima superba</italic>). The herbs (<italic>Lophatherum gracile</italic> and <italic>Alpinia chinensis</italic>) and shrubs (<italic>Ardisia quinquegona</italic> and <italic>Psychotria rubra</italic>) species in urban areas had significantly lower nitrogen (N) allocated in the cell wall and leaf δ<sup>15</sup>N values but higher heavy metal concentrations than those in suburban areas. The canopy and subcanopy (<italic>Diospyros morrisiana</italic> and <italic>Cratoxylum cochinchinense</italic>) species adapt to the urbanization via reducing resource acquisition but improving defense capacity, while the herb and shrub species improve resource acquisition to adapt to the urbanization. Our current studies indicated that functional groups affected the responses of plant adaptive strategies to the urbanization.</p>