Specific leaf area and leaf dry matter content of plants growing in sand dunes

We investigated the variations in specific leaf area (SLA) and leaf dry matter content (LDMC) of 20 species (10 annuals and 10 perennials) that have different distributional patterns in the Kerqin Sandy Land in northern China. The main purpose of our study was to determine if SLA and/or LDMC could be used as indicators of plant resource-use strategy in sand dune environments. The selected species were mainly distributed in three types of sand dunes: mobile sand dune, semi-fixed sand dune, and fixed sand dune. The three differed in their soil nutrient content and vegetation productivity. Both SLA and LDMC varied substantially among species in the different dunes. Maximum SLA (28.2 m kg) was observed in the annual grass Setaria viridis in a fixed sand dune, and the lowest SLA (8.6 m kg) was found in the perennial grass Pennisetum centrasiatum in a semi-fixed sand dune. LDMC varied from 0.10 g g for the annual forb Chenopodium glaucum in a fixed sand dune to 0.41 g g for the perennial grass Phragmitis australis in a fixed sand dune. For species common to two or three sites, their SLA and LDMC were significantly different between sites (P<0.05), except for two species for SLA and six species for LDMC. SLA and LDMC were negatively correlated both in the three types of sand dunes and for each functional type (annual versus perennial species). However, SLA and LDMC were significantly correlated only for the species in fixed sand dune, perennial species as well as all species. The results of our study showed that the SLA of annual plant species was generally higher than that of perennial species and that LDMC was significantly different between annual compared to perennial plants (P<0.05).