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• Soil phosphorus (P) availability and its distribution influence plant growth and productivity, but how they affect the growth dynamics and sex-specific P acquisition strategies of dioecious plant species is poorly understood. • In this study, the impact of soil P availability and its distribution on dioecious Populus cathayana was characterized. P. cathayana males and females were grown under three levels of P supply, and with homogeneous or heterogeneous P distribution. • Females had a greater total root length, specific root length (SRL), biomass and foliar P concentration under high P supply. Under P deficiency, males had a smaller root system than females but a greater exudation of soil acid phosphatase, and a higher colonization rate and arbuscular mycorrhizal hyphal biomass, suggesting a better capacity to mine P and a stronger association with arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi to forage P. Heterogeneous P distribution enhanced growth and root length density (RLD) in females. Female root proliferation in P-rich patches was related to increased foliar P assimilation. Localized P application for increasing P availability did not enhance the biomass accumulation and the morphological plasticity of roots in males, but it raised hyphal biomass. • The findings herein indicate that sex-specific strategies in P acquisition relate to root morphology, root exudation and mycorrhizal symbioses, and they may contribute to sex-specific resource utilization patterns and niche segregation.

Climate change is increasing the frequency of extreme rainfall events, making waterlogging a major constraint on crop production. Waterlogging imposes a composite stress on plants by causing rhizosphere hypoxia and promoting the accumulation of toxic reduced compounds. Root morphological plasticity is a central adaptive strategy under these conditions. It relies on the coordinated deployment of four linked modules: adventitious root (AR) formation, aerenchyma development, barrier formation to radial oxygen loss (ROL), and root system architecture (RSA) remodeling. These responses are initiated by ERF-VII-dependent hypoxia sensing and further shaped by ethylene-auxin interactions, ROS/Ca signaling, gaseous regulators such as NO and H S, and the capacity for metabolic reprogramming and carbon reallocation. Differences among species and genotypes likely reflect variation in signaling sensitivity, regulatory-network organization, and metabolic efficiency. In this review, we integrate current knowledge across three levels: root morphological modules, their regulatory networks, and rhizosphere constraints. We highlight key leverage points for improving waterlogging tolerance and propose a mechanistic framework to support both crop breeding and field management under increasingly flood-prone conditions.

Summary The architecture of trees is the result of constrained, morphologically plastic growth – constrained by an underlying architectural model embedded in their genome, the structure of which can be significantly altered during growth to match the changing environmental conditions to which the tree is exposed. Here, we examined the hypothesis that crowding from neighbours should cause trees to optimize traits for light competition at the expense of wind resistance, with the reverse being true for trees lacking neighbours. Previous studies have examined the influence of light competition or wind resistance on shaping tree architecture, but few, if any, have simultaneously addressed trade‐offs for optimizing these traits in response to crowding from neighbouring trees in forests, as compared to open‐grown conditions. We studied the response of tree‐ and branch‐level architectural traits of temperate, broad‐leaved, deciduous tree species of differing shade tolerance and wood strength from multiple locations across the north‐eastern United States. Trees ranged in size (4–83 cm diameter at 1·3 m) and crowding conditions (open‐ and forest‐grown) and occupied different canopy positions. The open‐grown trees represented a null condition, where the lack of neighbouring trees to shape architectural traits could be contrasted with the influence of different levels of crowding in forests. Our results show strong evidence for a tree neighbourhood‐induced convergence of architectural traits across species and conditions, even when trees are growing in urban rather than natural forest conditions. After accounting for crowding, the effects of species and sample location contributed very little to explaining variation in architectural traits. One exception was crown dimensions, for which species‐specific differences explained about 15% of the residual variation. Under open‐grown conditions, alleviation of light competition caused trees to develop relatively large crowns and branches and a squat growth form suitable to resist greater wind exposure. By contrast, increasing shading from neighbouring trees caused forest‐grown trees to become increasingly more spindly in the main stem, with slender branches sparsely distributed over a disproportionately large crown volume – presumably to maximize light capture. Although the latter is an intrinsically less wind‐stable form, it can be adopted to increase light capture because neighbouring trees reduce exposure to the wind, which should greatly reduce the likelihood of stem breakage or uprooting under critical wind pressures. A lay summary is available for this article. Lay Summary

Plants adapt to environmental changes by regulating their development and growth. As an important interface between plants and their environment, leaf morphogenesis varies between species, populations, or even shows plasticity within individuals. Leaf growth is dependent on many environmental factors, such as light, temperature, and submergence. Phytohormones play key functions in leaf development and can act as molecular regulatory elements in response to environmental signals. In this review, we discuss the current knowledge on the effects of different environmental factors and phytohormone pathways on morphological plasticity and intend to summarize the advances in leaf development. In addition, we detail the molecular mechanisms of heterophylly, the representative of leaf plasticity, providing novel insights into phytohormones and the environmental adaptation in plants.

Background Morphological plasticity is one of the capacities of plants to modify their morphological appearance in response to external stimuli. A plant’s morphology and physiology are constantly tuned to its variable surroundings by complex interactions between environmental stimuli and internal signals. In most of plant species,, such phenotypic and physiological expression varies among different varieties based on their levels of particular environmental stress conditions. However, the morphological and yield responses of common bean varieties to different environmental conditions are not well known. The purpose of the study was to evaluate morphological and yield response of common bean to soil moisture stress and to investigate the morphological mechanism by which common bean varieties tolerate fluctuations in moisture stress. Methods A pot experiment was carried out to investigate the effects of different moisture levels on the phenotypic and yield responses of common bean varieties. A factorial combination of five common bean varieties (Hirna, kufanzik, Awash-1, Ado, and Chercher) and three moisture levels (control, waterlogging stress, and moisture deficit stress) was used in three replications. Moisture stress treatments were started 20 days after planting, at the trifoliate growth stage. To evaluate the response of each variety, morphological and yield data were collected at week intervals. Main results The results indicated that moisture levels and varieties had a significant influence on all growth parameters. Crop phenology was significantly influenced by the interaction effect of moisture level and variety. Exposing Hirna variety to moisture stress led to extended flowering and pod setting by 23 and 24 days, respectively, compared to the other treatments. The results showed that the phenotypic responses to moisture deficit and waterlogging stress varied between varieties. Waterlogging stress had a stronger reduction effect on the fresh weight, dry weight and leaf area of common bean varieties than moisture deficit and the control. Pods per plant, seeds per plant, grain yield per plant, and harvest index were significantly influenced by the varieties, moisture stress levels and their interaction. Except for Chercher and Hirna. However, varieties Ado, kufanzik and Awasha-1 did not show significant differences on the time of flower initiation due to moisture level. Biomass and growth in leaf fresh weight, leaf dry weight, leaf area, leaf number and plant height were significantly influenced by moisture level. When moisture deficit and waterlogging stress occurred, Ado and Awash-1 were more responsive to moisture stress than Hirna, Chercher, and Kufanzik. Conclusion Hence, Hirna and Kufanzik varieties were found to be tolerant because they produced higher yields than the Chercher, Awash-1, and Ado varieties.

Phenotypic plasticity is thought to be important for plants in variable environments. The climatic variability hypothesis poses that populations at higher latitudes, due to the stronger variation in temperature, there should be more plastic in response to temperature than populations at lower latitudes. Similarly, populations at locations with stronger precipitation fluctuations should be more plastic in response to water availability than populations at locations with less variable precipitation. We sampled seven and nine populations of Solidago canadensis, a North American native that is invasive in China, along a latitudinal (temperature variability) and a longitudinal (precipitation variability) gradient, respectively, in China, and grew them under two temperature treatments and two water-availability treatments, respectively. Among the four traits with significant variation in plasticity among populations in response to temperature, plasticity of leaf length-to-width ratio was significantly positively correlated with latitude and temperature seasonality of the populations. In addition, root/shoot ratio and water-use efficiency showed significant variation in plasticity among populations in response to water availability, and plasticities of these two traits were significantly negatively correlated with longitude and positively correlated with precipitation seasonality. The observed geographic clines in plasticity suggest that phenotypic plasticity of S. canadensis may have evolved rapidly in regions with different climatic conditions, and this may have contributed to the spread of this invasive species.

Plasticity magnitude may affect the distribution and adaptability of species in altitude gradients. The term is broadly defined as the adaptability of organisms to alter their morphological and physiological traits in response to varying environments. Morphological and physiological plasticity may have different mechanisms and resource costs. However, our understanding of the mechanisms by which plasticity affects species' adaptation to altitude changes is limited. This study focused on the differences in the leaf traits of Schima superba (narrow ecological niche) and S. argentea (wider ecological niche) in response to altitude gradients. It also explored the adaptive strategies and mechanisms behind the plasticity of morphological and physiological traits under similar environmental pressures. The interaction between altitude and species significantly impacted morphological traits, such as leaf thickness, width, and mass, and physiological traits, such as chlorophyll, carotenoids (Car), relative water, soluble sugar (SS), leaf nitrogen (LNC), and leaf phosphorus (LPC) contents, as well as the N/P ratio. The leaf traits of the two species responded similarly to altitude gradient changes, but the adaptive potential of S. argentea was higher. Compared with S. superba, the chlorophyll content of S. argentea at high altitude (1912 m) was remarkably greater than that at two lower altitudes (1375 and 1552 m). Moreover, it was affected by nitrogen and phosphorus limitation only when the altitude exceeded 1912 m. Quantitative analysis based on the simplified relative distance plasticity index (RDPIs) showed that the RDPIs of physiological traits in S. argentea were significantly greater than those of morphological traits, and the RDPIs of most physiological traits were greater than those of S. superba, mainly due to the RDPIs of its physiological traits—especially LNC (0.357), Car (0.328), and SS (0.319). Thus, physiological plasticity plays a critical role in adapting to environmental changes, especially in the case of vertical gradients. Leaf traits of two Schima species differed significantly with altitude changes. Schima argentea had higher physiological than morphological plasticity versus S. superba. Ecological niche width positively correlated with plasticity of leaf physiological traits.

Environmental conditions during early life can shape trait expression after metamorphosis. Direct carry-over effects occur when the value of a trait expressed at an early stage directly determines its expression at later stages, maintaining phenotypic continuity across metamorphosis. However, environmental factors affect multiple traits whose interaction might shape developmental trajectories. Here, we tested whether trait interactions can shape direct carry-over effects, examining the interplay between behavioural and morphological plasticity in the mosquito Aedes mariae under varying salinity conditions. We found that higher salinity caused a reduction in larval body size and an increase in resting behaviour at the water surface, at the expense of browsing activity. Furthermore, we found that larval body size was positively correlated with pupal size under constant conditions, indicating a direct carry-over effect. However, this relationship was disrupted as salinity increased, due to different behavioural response according to larval body size, which decouples pupal morphology from larval size. Our results show that environmental conditions modulate trait integration and modify direct carry-over effects. These findings highlight the importance of considering multiple traits when studying developmental plasticity and contribute to the debate on the extent to which one life stage is coupled to the others across the metamorphic boundary.

Light heterogeneity is common in forest ecosystems. It arises from both horizontal (orientation) and vertical (canopy layer) gradients, driving adaptive strategies in plant morphology and physiology. The responses of leaf morphological and physiological traits in and were studied to clarify the adaptative mechanism of these two sympodial bamboo species to heterogeneous light environments. These two bamboo species showed a distinctly higher leaf mass per area (LMA) under high-light environments, with the highest LMA in upper canopy layer of south orientation and the lowest LMA in lower canopy layer of north orientation. Similarly, the maximum net photosynthetic rate (P ) of both bamboo species was significantly higher in high-light environments (south orientation and upper layer) than in low-light environments (north orientation and lower layer). However, the two sympodial bamboo species demonstrated distinct acclimation strategies in leaf morphological and photosynthetic traits: achieved broad acclimation through the stability of its functional traits, whereas attained precise acclimation via morphological and physiological plasticity. This study reveals a consistent increase in leaf investment under high light conditions in two sympodial bamboos, alongside species-specific variations in the extent of their morphological and physiological plasticity. These findings provide a theoretical basis for the sustainable management of bamboo forest ecosystems.

BACKGROUND AND AIMS: Roots have morphological plasticity to adapt to heterogeneous nutrient distribution in soil, but little is known about crop differences in root plasticity. The objective of this study was to evaluate root morphological strategies of four crop species in response to soil zones enriched with different nutrients. METHODS: Four crop species that are common in intercropping systems [maize (Zea mays L.), wheat (Triticum aestivum L.), faba bean (Vicia faba L.), and chickpea (Cicer arietinum L.)] and have contrasting root morphological traits were grown for 45 days under uniform or localized nitrogen and phosphorus supply. RESULTS: For each species tested, the nutrient supply patterns had no effect on shoot biomass and specific root length. However, localized supply of ammonium plus phosphorus induced maize and wheat root proliferation in the nutrient-rich zone. Localized supply of ammonium alone suppressed the whole root growth of chickpea and maize, whereas localized phosphorus plus ammonium reversed (maize and chickpea ) the negative effect of ammonium. The localized root proliferation of chickpea in a nutrient-rich zone did not increase the whole root length and root surface area. Faba bean had no significant response to localized nutrient supply. CONCLUSIONS: The root morphological plasticity is influenced by nutrient-specific and species-specific responses, with the greater plasticity in graminaceous (eg. maize) than leguminous species (eg. faba bean and chickpea).