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Background and aims <p>Rapid warming has driven widespread upslope plant migration, often involving woody expansion in alpine ecosystems. In contrast, on Changbai Mountain, the low-elevation graminoid <i>Deyeuxia angustifolia</i> is encroaching into tundra dominated by the native shrub <i>Rhododendron aureum</i>. This atypical herb-into-shrub expansion threatens shrub persistence and may undermine biodiversity and carbon storage, underscoring the need to understand how herbaceous encroachment shapes native shrub trait responses.</p> Methods <p>Along an encroachment gradient of <i>D. angustifolia</i> into a <i>R. aureum</i>-dominated tundra on Changbai Mountain, we measured 47 functional traits of <i>R. aureum</i> to explore changes in trait means, intraspecific variation (ITV), trait integration, and their links to soil properties.</p> Results <p>Compared with non-encroached plots, <i>R. aureum</i> exhibited lower biomass (− 20.76%) and seed mass (− 46.89%) in plots with <i>D. angustifolia</i> encroachment. Moreover, <i>R. aureum</i> also showed thinner, larger, and more nutrient-enriched leaves, lower root carbon and non-structural carbohydrate concentrations, and more acquisitive trait syndromes. Intraspecific variation in energy-storage and water-use traits was higher, whereas variation in nutrient-use traits was lower. Trait integration was higher, with 60%–100% greater network edge density, especially among leaf–shoot traits. Hub traits shifted from root traits in non-encroached plots to leaf traits in encroached plots.</p> Conclusions <p>Overall, encroachment was associated with a shift in trait strategies from high means to enhanced cross-organ integration, accompanied by changes in shading, snow–soil thermal conditions, and nutrient availability. This reorganization represents a carbon-limited compensatory strategy that improves resource acquisition but cannot prevent declining performance, providing mechanistic insight into shrub persistence and tundra vegetation trajectories under climate warming.</p>

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Functional trait variation of Rhododendron aureum in relation to Deyeuxia angustifolia encroachment in an alpine tundra

  • 期刊论文

  • 发表日期：

    2026年4月1日

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  • Na Li,
  • Zhaoyong Hu,
  • Guangqi Zhang,
  • Mai-He Li,
  • Zhengfang Wu,
  • Renkai Dong,
  • Suke Hou,
  • Chao Song,
  • Haibo Du

摘要

Background and aims

Rapid warming has driven widespread upslope plant migration, often involving woody expansion in alpine ecosystems. In contrast, on Changbai Mountain, the low-elevation graminoid Deyeuxia angustifolia is encroaching into tundra dominated by the native shrub Rhododendron aureum. This atypical herb-into-shrub expansion threatens shrub persistence and may undermine biodiversity and carbon storage, underscoring the need to understand how herbaceous encroachment shapes native shrub trait responses.

Methods

Along an encroachment gradient of D. angustifolia into a R. aureum-dominated tundra on Changbai Mountain, we measured 47 functional traits of R. aureum to explore changes in trait means, intraspecific variation (ITV), trait integration, and their links to soil properties.

Results

Compared with non-encroached plots, R. aureum exhibited lower biomass (− 20.76%) and seed mass (− 46.89%) in plots with D. angustifolia encroachment. Moreover, R. aureum also showed thinner, larger, and more nutrient-enriched leaves, lower root carbon and non-structural carbohydrate concentrations, and more acquisitive trait syndromes. Intraspecific variation in energy-storage and water-use traits was higher, whereas variation in nutrient-use traits was lower. Trait integration was higher, with 60%–100% greater network edge density, especially among leaf–shoot traits. Hub traits shifted from root traits in non-encroached plots to leaf traits in encroached plots.

Conclusions

Overall, encroachment was associated with a shift in trait strategies from high means to enhanced cross-organ integration, accompanied by changes in shading, snow–soil thermal conditions, and nutrient availability. This reorganization represents a carbon-limited compensatory strategy that improves resource acquisition but cannot prevent declining performance, providing mechanistic insight into shrub persistence and tundra vegetation trajectories under climate warming.