Journal of Plant Ecology

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增温逆转了性别间相互作用:雌雄异株桑树从竞争转向促进

  

  • 收稿日期:2025-12-22 接受日期:2026-06-09

Warming reverses intersexual interactions: a shift from competition to facilitation in the dioecious mulberry tree

Yaman Wang1,2,#, Xinyu Lai2,#, Xiaomei Wen2, Yongqiang Zhang1, Junyan Liu3, Xiao Xu2 and Tingfa Dong1,*   

  1. 1 State Key Laboratory of Vegetation Structure, Functions and Construction (Veglab), Ministry of Education Key Laboratory for Transboundary Ecosecurity of Southwest China, and Yunnan Key Laboratory of Biological Adaptation, Conservation and Utilization, Institute of Biodiversity, School of Ecology and Environmental Science, Yunnan University, 650500, Kunming, China
    2 Ministry of Education Key Laboratory of Southwest China Wildlife Resources Conservation, School of Life Science, China West Normal University, Nanchong, Sichuan 637009, China
    3 Yunnan Urban Agricultural Engineering and Technological Research Center, College of Agronomy, Kunming University, Kunming 650214, Yunnan, China
    # These authors contributed equally to this work.
    * Corresponding author: Tingfa Dong, E-mail address: dtf@ynu.edu.cn
  • Received:2025-12-22 Accepted:2026-06-09
  • Supported by:
    This research was supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (32171750, 32460378 and 32281523118), Yunnan Fundamental Research Projects (202401BF070001-003), The Project Supported by the Foundation of Key Laboratory of Southwest China Wildlife Resources Conservation, Ministry of Education (XNYB25-01), the Science Research Foundation of the Yunnan Provincial Department of Education and the Scientific Research and Innovation Project of Postgraduate Students of Yunnan University (KC-252513480) and the Fund of Donglu Young Scholar of Yunnan University.

摘要: 解析全球变暖如何重塑种内相互作用,对于预测气候快速变化背景下植物的生长表现和生态系统稳定性至关重要。雌雄异株植物物种具有独立的雌性和雄性个体,是许多森林生态系统的建群种,然而性别间相互作用如何响应气候变暖仍知之甚少。本研究以桑树(Morus alba)为模式植物,通过温室模拟增温实验比较了异性种植(雌—雄)与同性种植(雌—雌、雄—雄)条件下的生长、生理性状和养分获取,探究气候变暖如何改变性别间相互作用。研究发现,增温逆转了性别间相互作用的方向:异性组合从常温条件下的竞争抑制转变为变暖条件下的相互促进,其总生物量和养分库均高于任一同性组合。这种促进效应的转变与变暖诱导的混种根系生长变化、雌性植株光合性能提升以及整株养分库的协同增加相关。研究结果表明,基于性别的种内相互作用结果具有高度的环境依赖性,并为性别间相互作用随气候变暖而转变提供了实验证据。该研究强调了在未来气候变暖背景下,维持性别多样性对于提高雌雄异株植物种群的生产力和韧性具有重要意义。

关键词: 雌雄异株植物, 全球变暖, 雌雄混种, 桑树, 养分吸收, 植物-植物促进关系, 性别差异

Abstract: aUnderstanding how global warming reshapes intraspecific interactions is critical for predicting plant performance and ecosystem stability in a rapidly changing climate. Dioecious plant species, with distinct female and male individuals, are foundation species in many forest ecosystems, yet how sexual interactions respond to climate warming remains poorly understood. Here, we conducted a greenhouse warming experiment using Morus alba as a model to examine how warming alters sexual interactions, by comparing growth, physiological traits, and nutrient acquisition in inter-sexual (female–male) and intra-sexual (female–female and male–male) plantings. Warming reversed the direction of intersexual interactions: inter-sexual combination shifted from strong competitive suppression under ambient temperature to facilitation under warmed condition, yielding higher total biomass and nutrient pools than either intra-sexual combination. This facilitative shift was associated with warming-induced changes in root growth in mixed-sex plantings, enhanced photosynthetic performance in female plants, and synergistic increases in whole-plant nutrient pools. Our findings indicate that the outcome of sex-based intraspecific interactions is highly context-dependent and provide experimental evidence that sexual interactions shift with climate warming. This study highlights the importance of maintaining sexual diversity to enhance productivity and resilience in dioecious plant populations under future climate warming.

Key words: Dioecious plant, Global warming, Mixed-sex planting, Morus alba, Nutrient uptake, Plant-plant facilitation, Sexual difference