Biology subjects

Munzbergova, Z.

Publications and source records attributed to Munzbergova, Z..

9 recordsLinked to original sources

bioRxiv2025

Drought and methyl jasmonate memory interact to determine plant functioning under current drought stress in a perennial grass

As droughts become more common due to climate change, survival may rely not only on a plants immediate response but also on what it has learned from past challenges. However, we still know little about how plants integrate different types of experiences, such as recurrent drought and hormonal cues, from previous generations. In this study, we examined whether clonal offspring of Festuca rubra plants previously exposed to drought or the stress hormone methyl jasmonate (MeJA) inherited biological memories that help them tolerate new drought stress. Using a factorial design, we combined untargeted LC- MS metabolomics with morpho-physiological measurements to evaluate these memory effects. We found that each type of memory changed plant metabolism and physiology, but the most notable changes occurred when both memories were present, and plants faced recurrent drought conditions again. This interaction between drought memory, MeJA memory, and current stress did not just add effects, it created entirely new metabolic responses, not seen in any single treatment. These combined memories fine-tuned water conservation, photosynthesis, and extensive metabolomic reshuffling, revealing a deeper level of drought resilience. Our results uncover a layered memory system in plants where past stresses do not act in isolation but interact to reshape future responses. This offers new insight into how plants prepare for stress and suggests practical strategies for priming drought tolerance across plant generations.

plant biology↗

bioRxiv2025

Shift from acquisitive to conservative plant strategies with increasing drought and temperature extremes in an alpine shrub

Background and AimsTrait-based approaches have advanced our understanding of plant strategies, yet they often focus on leaf-level traits, overlooking the functional roles of stem anatomy and twig characteristics. We investigated intraspecific trait variation in Salix flabellaris, an alpine dwarf shrub, along climatic gradients in the Himalayas. Our goal was to identify distinct axes of trait variation related to stem, twig, and leaf traits, assess their environmental drivers, and evaluate population-specific growth responses to recent climate change. MethodsWe measured anatomical and morphological traits in stem, twig, and leaves across central and marginal populations along three Himalayan transects. Environmental gradients included variation in growing season temperature and soil moisture. Basal area increment from 2000 to 2021 was analyzed to assess long-term growth trends in different areas. ResultsTrait dimensions were largely independent, reflecting distinct ecological strategies: (1) stem anatomical trade-off between hydraulic safety and conductivity; (2) twig dimension balancing construction costs and mechanical strength; and (3) leaf dimension along the exploitative-conservative axis. Higher temperatures enhanced performance manifested as larger twigs and reduced tissue construction costs but only under sufficient soil moisture conditions. Central populations at mid-elevations displayed the favorable trait combinations and highest growth rates. In contrast, marginal populations (higher and lower elevations) showed traits indicating structural reinforcement and conservative resource use. Climate warming over recent decades enhanced stem growth primarily in high-elevation populations, where low-temperature constraints were relaxed. ConclusionsThis study demonstrates that stem, twig, and leaf traits represent distinct yet complementary strategies, with environmental filtering shaping their expression along climate gradients. Central populations exhibit highest growth under current conditions, while climate change is shifting growth advantages toward higher elevations. These findings highlight the need for integrated, multi-organ trait assessments to predict species performance, persistence, and potential range shifts under future climatic scenarios.

ecology↗

bioRxiv2022

Differential effect of climate on structural and biochemical plant traits

Exploring patterns and causes of intraspecific trait variation is crucial for a better understanding of the effects of climate change on plant populations and ecosystems. However, our current understanding of the intraspecific trait variation is mainly based on structural (morphological) traits, and we have limited knowledge on patterns and causes of variation in biochemical traits (e.g., leaf pigments), which are also crucial for plant adaptation. As a result, we also do not know how similar the climatic effects on structural versus biochemical traits are. Using plant traits from 110 genotypes representing 11 Festuca rubra populations grown in 4 different climates, we studied trait covariation among structural traits (linked to fitness, resource use, gas exchange, and reproduction) and biochemical traits (linked to photosynthesis, photoprotection, and oxidative stress). We also disentangled the relative role of the climate of origin and the climate of cultivation in the structural versus biochemical traits and tested for adaptive plasticity in the traits. We found that 1) biochemical traits did not covary with structural traits and represent independent photoharvesting - photoprotection strategy dimension of functional variation; 2) interactive effects of climate of origin and cultivation were more pronounced for biochemical than structural traits. 3) Trait plasticity was affected by the climate of origin (precipitation and temperature as well as their interaction); 4) F. rubra showed both adaptive and mal-adaptive plasticity, and adaptiveness depended upon trait type, cultivation climate, and climate of origin. Overall, our results suggest that structural and biochemical plant traits respond differentially to climate and thus the response of one group of traits cannot be predicted from the other. Responses are also strongly determined by interactions between the climate of origin and cultivation. Thus, more studies on variation in biochemical traits, their correspondence to other traits, and their variation with climate are needed.

ecology↗

bioRxiv2021

Rhizome trait scaling relationships are modulated by climate and are linked to plant fitness

Background and AimRhizomes are important organs allowing many clonal plants to persist and reproduce under stressful climates with longer rhizomes indicating enhanced ability of the plants to spread vegetatively. We do not however, know either how rhizome construction costs change with increasing length or vary with environmental conditions. MethodsWe analysed the rhizome length vs mass scaling relationship, the plasticity in the scaling relationships, their genetic basis, and how scaling relationships are linked to plant fitness. We used data from 275 genotypes of a clonal grass Festuca rubra originating from 11 localities and cultivated under four contrasting climates. Data were analysed using standard major axis regression, mixed-effect regression models and a structural equation model. Key ResultsRhizome construction costs increased (i.e., lower specific rhizome length) with increasing length. The trait scaling relationships were modulated by cultivation climate and its effects also interacted with the climate of origin of the experimental plants. With increasing length, increasing moisture led to a greater increase in rhizome construction costs. Plants with lower rhizome construction costs showed significantly higher fitness. ConclusionsThis study suggests that rhizome scaling relationships are plastic, but also show genetic differentiation and are linked to plant fitness. Therefore, to persist under variable environments modulation in scaling relationships could be an important plants strategy.

ecology↗

bioRxiv2020

Plant origin determines seed mass, seed nutrients and germination behavior of a dominant grass species

Although number of studies exploring effects of climate change on plants is increasing, only few studies pay attention to germination. Understanding of germination behaviour is complicated by impact of climate on seed mass and possibly also seed nutrients, which play irreplaceable role in nourishing the sprout. The germination behaviour of species may also depend on trade-off between generative and vegetative reproduction. We studied Festuca rubra originating from localities situated along a natural climatic grid. Seeds of different origin were germinated in two temperature and two moisture regimes, simulating the extremes of the grid. To study relationship between generative and vegetative reproduction we used data on vegetative traits originating from the same study system. Seed mass and nutrient concentrations (nitrogen and phosphorus) were significantly affected by original climate, while carbohydrates not. Higher seed mass and warm temperature of origin caused higher and faster germination. Warm and dry condition during germination caused the lowest germination but the highest seed viability. Total germination and proportion of viable seeds negatively correlated with plant performance variables contributing to vegetative reproduction. Despite this, the patterns detected using datasets of germination and plant performance, did not provide fully comparable results. Simulated changes in climatic condition can modify seed mass and seed nutrients and these changes translate into changes in species germination behavior. After accounting for seed mass, both original and target conditions determine species germination indicating that both genetic differentiation as well as actual conditions drive the germination patterns. As the patterns detected at the level of seed germination do not fully match those detected for the vegetative traits, we urge that future studies should focus on multiple stages of plant life to understand species responses to future climates.

ecology↗

bioRxiv2019

Ecophysiological traits of a clonal grass in its climate change response

BackgroundUnderstanding the ability of species to respond to climate change is essential for prediction of their future distribution. When migration is not adequate, reaction via phenotypic plasticity or genetic adaptation is necessary. While many studies investigated the importance of plasticity and genetic differentiation (plant origin) in growth related traits, we know less about differentiation in ecophysiological traits. In addition, the existing studies looking at plant physiology usually do not estimate the consequences of these physiological changes for species performance. MethodsWe used a clonal grass Festuca rubra originating from localities representing factorially crossed gradients of temperatures and precipitations. We cultivated the plants in growth chambers set to simulate temperature and moisture regime in the four most extreme localities. We measured net photosynthetic rate, chlorophyll fluorescence, SLA, osmotic potential, stomatal density and stomatal length as range of ecophysiological traits and tested their relationship to plant fitness measured as ramet number and biomass. Key resultsWe found strong phenotypic plasticity in photosynthetic traits and genetic differentiation in stomatal traits. In most traits, the effects of temperature interacted with the effects of moisture. The relationship between the ecophysiological and fitness-related traits was significant but weak. ConclusionsEcophysiological response of Festuca rubra to climate change is driven by phenotypic plasticity as well as by genetic differentiation indicating potential ability of the populations to adapt to new climatic conditions. The changes in ecophysiological traits translate into plant fitness even though other unmeasured factors also play an important role in fitness determination. Inclusion of species ecophysiology into studies of species adaptation to climate can still increase our ability to understand how species may respond to novel conditions.

plant biology↗

bioRxiv2019

Seed mass and plant origin interact to determine species germination patterns

Ongoing changes in temperature and precipitation regime may have strong impact on vulnerable life-history stages such as germination. Differences in germination patterns among species and populations may reflect their adaptation to conditions of their origin or may be determined by the phylogenetic constrains. These two effects are, however, rarely separated. All the germination patterns may also be modified by seed mass. We studied 40 populations of 14 species of Impatiens coming from Himalayas. Germination of seeds of different origin was tested in four target temperatures, three simulating original conditions plus a warmer climate change scenario. We also studied effect of shorter stratification and warmer temperature in combination as another possible effect of climate change. Original and target climate interacted and had strong impact on total germination, but not on germination speed and seed dormancy. Interaction between seed mass and original climate indicated different germination strategies in light and heavy seeds. Only seed mass was affected by phylogenetic relationships among the species, while germination response (with exception of T50) was driven primarily by climate of origin. This study is the first to show that the effect of seed mass interacts with original climate in determining species germination patterns under changing climate. The differences in seed mass are thus likely crucial for species ability to adapt to novel conditions as seed mass, unlike seed germination patterns, is strongly phylogenetically constrained. Further studies exploring how seed mass modifies species germination under changing climate are needed to confirm generality of these findings.

ecology↗

bioRxiv2019

Effects of temperature of plant cultivation on plant palatability modify species response to novel climate

Climate warming is expected to strengthen the plant-herbivore interactions and thus increase the plant consumption rate. However, indirect impacts of temperature (acting via changes in host plant quality) on herbivore performance have only rarely been studied, and therefore, the net effect of temperature change is difficult to predict. We thus tested the effects of temperature on plant palatability and assessed whether the effects can be explained by changes in leaf traits. We conducted multi-choice feeding experiments with six species of the genus Impatiens cultivated at three different temperatures in the growth chambers and in the experimental garden and also studied changes in leaf morphology and chemistry. The leaves of Impatiens species were most eaten when cultivated in the temperature predicted by climate warming scenario. We found the traits related to leaf morphology (SLA, LDMC and leaf size) partly mediated the effects of temperature on leaf herbivore damage. Herbivores preferred smaller leaves with lower SLA and higher LDMC values. Results of our study suggested that elevated temperature will lead to change in leaf traits and increase their palatability. This will further enhance the levels of herbivory caused by increased herbivore pressure under climate warming.

ecology↗

bioRxiv2019

Plant-soil feedback contributes to predicting plant invasiveness of 68 alien plant species differing in invasive status

1. Understanding what species characteristics allow some alien plants to become invasive while others fail to is critical to our understanding of community assembly processes. While many characteristics have been shown to predict plant invasiveness, the importance of plant-soil feedbacks (PSFs) in invasions has been difficult to assess since individual studies include only a few species and use disparate methodology.\n\n2. We studied PSFs of 68 invasive and non-invasive alien species in a single two-phase garden experiment, and compared the relative importance of PSF, residence time, phylogenetic novelty and plant traits for plant invasiveness. Additionally, we tested for relationships between PSF, residence time and phylogenetic novelty.\n\n3. PSF for seedling establishment belonged to five best predictors of plant invasiveness, along with specific leaf area, height, seedling growth rate, and residence time. Invasive species had more positive PSF for seedling establishment, but not for biomass, than non-invasive species. Phylogenetically novel species experienced less negative PSF than species with native congeners, suggesting they benefit more from enemy release. PSF of non-invasive species, contrary to that of invasive species, was becoming more negative with increasing residence time.\n\n4. Synthesis. We demonstrated that PSF plays a role in predicting invasiveness that is comparable with other species characteristics that are more commonly studied. PSF should thus receive more attention in studies predicting community structure and in programs assessing the likely invasions of aliens.

plant biology↗