{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,10,26]],"date-time":"2026-10-26T22:57:54Z","timestamp":1793055474230,"version":"4.5.0"},"reference-count":57,"publisher":"Public Library of Science (PLoS)","issue":"1","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2025,1,15]],"date-time":"2025-01-15T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1736899200000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"http:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"funder":[{"DOI":"10.13039\/501100002428","name":"Austrian Science Fund","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","id":[{"id":"10.13039\/501100002428","id-type":"DOI","asserted-by":"publisher"}]},{"name":"Autonomous Province of South Tyrol, Bolzano\/Bozen"}],"content-domain":{"domain":["www.plosone.org"],"crossmark-restriction":false},"short-container-title":["PLoS ONE"],"abstract":"<jats:p>Lower atmospheric pressure affects biologically relevant physical parameters such as gas partial pressure and concentration, leading to increased water vapor diffusivity and greater soil water content loss through evapotranspiration. This might impact plant photosynthetic activity, resource allocation, water relations, and growth. However, the direct impact of low air pressure on plant physiology is largely unknown. This study examined the effects of low air pressure, alone and combined with two water inputs, on different functional traits of three plant species transplanted from montane grasslands at 1,500 m a.s.l. during the first four weeks of their early phenological stage: <jats:italic>Trifolium pratense<\/jats:italic>, <jats:italic>Hieracium pilosella<\/jats:italic>, and B<jats:italic>rachypodium rupestre<\/jats:italic>. Using the terraXcube Ecotron facility which can simulate different climatic conditions, we isolated the effect of air pressure from those of other, related environmental factors (temperature, humidity, and solar radiation) by simulating three different elevations with corresponding air pressures: 1,500 m a.s.l. (85 kPa, <jats:italic>control scenario<\/jats:italic>), 2,500 m a.s.l. (75 kPa), and 4,000 m a.s.l. (62 kPa) and we used two different water regimes to observe the combined effect of low air pressure and the impact of varying water inputs on plants. In <jats:italic>T<\/jats:italic>. <jats:italic>pratense<\/jats:italic> and <jats:italic>H<\/jats:italic>. <jats:italic>pilosella<\/jats:italic>, we observed an increase in stomatal conductance but a reduction in aboveground biomass at the lowest pressure compared to the control scenario after four weeks of incubation. Contrastingly, <jats:italic>B<\/jats:italic>. <jats:italic>rupestre<\/jats:italic> showed an interactive effect of air pressure and water treatment on chlorophyll and biomass nitrogen content, which were reduced under higher soil water conditions at 85kPa. This study serves as an initial step in isolating the specific impact of air pressure on plant physiology, demonstrating the potential of the facility for future research. The mixed response patterns across species highlight that atmospheric pressure could be a driving factor to consider when assessing plant responses along elevational gradient.<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.1371\/journal.pone.0317590","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2025,1,15]],"date-time":"2025-01-15T18:36:48Z","timestamp":1736966208000},"page":"e0317590","update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.1371\/journal.pone.corrections_policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":11,"title":["Short-term impact of low air pressure on plants\u2019 functional traits"],"prefix":"10.1371","volume":"20","author":[{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0001-5401-4027","authenticated-orcid":true,"given":"Silvia","family":"Lembo","sequence":"first","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Georg","family":"Niedrist","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Bouchra","family":"El Omari","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Paul","family":"Illmer","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-1531-8543","authenticated-orcid":true,"given":"Nadine","family":"Praeg","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Andreas","family":"Meul","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0001-7052-5572","authenticated-orcid":true,"given":"Matteo","family":"Dainese","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]}],"member":"340","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2025,1,15]]},"reference":[{"issue":"6918","key":"pone.0317590.ref001","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"37","DOI":"10.1038\/nature01286","article-title":"A globally coherent fingerprint of climate change impacts across natural systems","volume":"421","author":"C Parmesan","year":"2003","journal-title":"Nature"},{"issue":"5","key":"pone.0317590.ref002","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"541","DOI":"10.1111\/j.1654-1103.2005.tb02394.x","article-title":"Trends in the upward shift of alpine plants.","volume":"16","author":"G Walther","year":"2005","journal-title":"J Veg Sci."},{"issue":"5884","key":"pone.0317590.ref003","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"1768","DOI":"10.1126\/science.1156831","article-title":"A Significant Upward Shift in Plant Species Optimum Elevation During the 20th Century.","volume":"320","author":"J Lenoir","year":"2008","journal-title":"Science"},{"issue":"8","key":"pone.0317590.ref004","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"577","DOI":"10.1038\/nclimate3337","article-title":"Human disturbance and upward expansion of plants in a warming climate.","volume":"7","author":"M Dainese","year":"2017","journal-title":"Nat Clim Chang"},{"issue":"8","key":"pone.0317590.ref005","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"1848","DOI":"10.1073\/pnas.1713936115","article-title":"Range dynamics of mountain plants decrease with elevation","volume":"115","author":"SB Rumpf","year":"2018","journal-title":"Proc Natl Acad Sci"},{"issue":"12","key":"pone.0317590.ref006","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"e2211531120","DOI":"10.1073\/pnas.2211531120","article-title":"Red-listed plants are contracting their elevational range faster than common plants in the European Alps","volume":"120","author":"C Geppert","year":"2023","journal-title":"Proc Natl Acad Sci"},{"key":"pone.0317590.ref007","first-page":"269","author":"C. 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