{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,9,1]],"date-time":"2026-09-01T05:16:45Z","timestamp":1788239805650,"version":"build-2803163510"},"reference-count":43,"publisher":"MDPI AG","issue":"17","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2026,8,30]],"date-time":"2026-08-30T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1788048000000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"funder":[{"DOI":"10.13039\/501100001809","name":"National Natural Science Foundation of China","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","award":["42271125"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["42271125"]}],"id":[{"id":"10.13039\/501100001809","id-type":"DOI","asserted-by":"crossref"}]},{"award":["42271125"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["42271125"]}],"id":[{"id":"https:\/\/ror.org\/01h0zpd94","id-type":"ROR","asserted-by":"publisher"}]}],"content-domain":{"domain":[],"crossmark-restriction":false},"short-container-title":["Plants"],"abstract":"<jats:p>Plant functional traits are key indicators of plant responses to environmental conditions and resource-allocation trade-offs, thereby providing insights into adaptive mechanisms across habitats. Wetlands are one of the major habitats worldwide, yet organ-level plant life adaptive strategies in different wetland types remain insufficiently understood. This study compared three representative marsh systems located in different regions of Northeast China. Forty-five plant community plots were established, and 10 leaf traits, 13 root traits, and 8 soil environmental variables were systematically measured for dominant herbaceous species. We examined above- and belowground trait trade-offs using Pearson correlation analysis and assessed their responses to environmental gradients using redundancy analysis (RDA). The results showed that trait variability differed markedly among marsh types. Inland salt marshes exhibited the greatest variation in leaf and root morphology, while morphological traits generally varied more strongly than ecophysiological traits. In inland salt marshes, root ecophysiological traits were closely associated with leaf morphology. Forested marshes showed multi-trait trade-offs and nutrient regulation, whereas freshwater herbaceous marshes displayed strong leaf-root trait correlations, indicating flexible inter-organ nutrient allocation. Soil environmental properties explained different proportions of functional trait variation across habitats, with the highest explanatory power in forested marshes (42.85%), followed by freshwater herbaceous marshes (34.56%) and inland salt marshes (34.41%). Soil carbon-to-nitrogen ratio significantly affected plant growth in all three habitats, although the other environmental drivers were habitat-specific. These findings reveal distinct community-level patterns of leaf\u2013root trait variation and coordination among the sampled dominant herbaceous species across the three marsh habitats, providing empirical evidence for understanding wetland plant adaptation mechanisms in Northeast China.<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.3390\/plants15172661","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2026,8,31]],"date-time":"2026-08-31T02:08:58Z","timestamp":1788142138000},"page":"2661","update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3390\/mdpi_crossmark_policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":0,"title":["Leaf-Root Trait Coordination Among Dominant Herbaceous Species Across Three Marsh Habitats in Northeast China"],"prefix":"10.3390","volume":"15","author":[{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0009-0006-5309-7581","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Qiuyu","family":"Meng","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"College of Geographic Science and Tourism, Jilin Normal University, 1301 Haifeng Street, Siping 136000, China"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Shilin","family":"Liu","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"College of Geographic Science and Tourism, Jilin Normal University, 1301 Haifeng Street, Siping 136000, China"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-8338-8586","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Jiping","family":"Liu","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"College of Geographic Science and Tourism, Jilin Normal University, 1301 Haifeng Street, Siping 136000, China"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0009-0001-6433-497X","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Yanhui","family":"Chen","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"College of Geographic Science and Tourism, Jilin Normal University, 1301 Haifeng Street, Siping 136000, China"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]}],"member":"1968","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2026,8,30]]},"reference":[{"key":"ref_1","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","unstructured":"Jiang, D., Nie, T., He, Q., Xu, Z., Chen, H.Y.H., Feng, E., and Pe\u00f1uelas, J. (2025). Leaf nutrient resorption efficiency aligns with the leaf but not root economic spectrum in a tropical mangrove forest. Plants, 14.","DOI":"10.2139\/ssrn.5136345"},{"key":"ref_2","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","unstructured":"Yang, L., Lou, Y., and Tang, Z. (2025). The response of the functional traits of Phragmites australis and Bolboschoenus planiculmis to water and saline\u2013alkaline stresses. Plants, 14.","DOI":"10.3390\/plants14142112"},{"key":"ref_3","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"416","DOI":"10.1016\/j.tree.2026.02.003","article-title":"Toward refining and contextualizing the root economics space","volume":"41","author":"Kou","year":"2026","journal-title":"Trends Ecol. Evol."},{"key":"ref_4","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"1823","DOI":"10.1002\/ldr.70213","article-title":"Soil properties and plant functional traits jointly determine the wetland plant diversity undergoing shrub encroachment in a semi-arid region","volume":"37","author":"Shi","year":"2025","journal-title":"Land Degrad. Dev."},{"key":"ref_5","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","unstructured":"de la Riva, E.G., Querejeta, J.I., Villar, R., P\u00e9rez-Ramos, I.M., Mara\u00f1\u00f3n, T., D\u00edaz, J.G., Mar\u00edn, S.d.T., and Prieto, I. (2021). The economics spectrum drives root trait strategies in Mediterranean vegetation. Front. Plant Sci., 12.","DOI":"10.3389\/fpls.2021.773118"},{"key":"ref_6","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"419","DOI":"10.1093\/aob\/mcac052","article-title":"Environmental variation drives the decoupling of leaf and root traits within species along an elevation gradient","volume":"130","author":"Weemstra","year":"2022","journal-title":"Ann. Bot."},{"key":"ref_7","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"103352","DOI":"10.1016\/j.ecoinf.2025.103352","article-title":"Responses of the functional traits of wetland plants to variations in water levels and regimes\u2014A global synthesis","volume":"90","author":"Li","year":"2025","journal-title":"Ecol. Inf."},{"key":"ref_8","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"903","DOI":"10.1111\/1365-2745.14070","article-title":"Plant community responses to alterations in soil abiotic and biotic conditions are decoupled for above- and below-ground traits","volume":"111","author":"Gao","year":"2023","journal-title":"J. Ecol."},{"key":"ref_9","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"122726","DOI":"10.1016\/j.foreco.2025.122726","article-title":"Phosphorus stress disrupts leaf-root trait relationships and reduces biomass in a tropical cloud forest: Evidence from a two-year phosphorus addition experiment","volume":"586","author":"Linger","year":"2025","journal-title":"For. Ecol. Manag."},{"key":"ref_10","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"rtaf023","DOI":"10.1093\/jpe\/rtaf023","article-title":"Divergent leaf\u2013root coordination between mangroves and non-mangroves","volume":"18","author":"Wu","year":"2025","journal-title":"J. Plant Ecol."},{"key":"ref_11","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"36","DOI":"10.1038\/s41559-021-01616-8","article-title":"Climatic and soil factors explain the two-dimensional spectrum of global plant trait variation","volume":"6","author":"Joswig","year":"2022","journal-title":"Nat. Ecol. Evol."},{"key":"ref_12","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"2203","DOI":"10.1038\/s41467-019-10245-6","article-title":"Nonlinearity of root trait relationships and the root economics spectrum","volume":"10","author":"Kong","year":"2019","journal-title":"Nat. Commun."},{"key":"ref_13","first-page":"1155","article-title":"Black soil protection and utilization based on harmonization of mountain\u2013river\u2013forest\u2013farmland\u2013lake\u2013grassland\u2013sandy land ecosystems and strategic construction of ecological barrier","volume":"36","author":"Zhang","year":"2021","journal-title":"Bull. Chin. Acad. Sci."},{"key":"ref_14","first-page":"30","article-title":"Study on plant diversity in Dulu River Wetland Nature Reserve","volume":"4","author":"Xu","year":"2019","journal-title":"Prot. For. Sci. Technol."},{"key":"ref_15","first-page":"68","article-title":"Regional differences in the content and spectral characteristics of dissolved organic matter in soils of typical marsh wetlands in China","volume":"24","author":"Sang","year":"2026","journal-title":"Wetl. Sci."},{"key":"ref_16","first-page":"25","article-title":"Growth responses of Phragmites australis populations after habitat disturbance in saline\u2013alkaline marshes of the western Songnen Plain","volume":"41","author":"An","year":"2022","journal-title":"Ecol. Sci."},{"key":"ref_17","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"1154","DOI":"10.17521\/cjpe.2020.0405","article-title":"Ecological functions, geographical distribution and causes of plant leaf morphology","volume":"45","author":"Li","year":"2021","journal-title":"Chin. J. Plant Ecol."},{"key":"ref_18","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","unstructured":"Kun, Y.H., Xu, P., Yan, X.L., Fu, Z.-X., and Zhang, M.-Y. (2021). Above- and belowground plant functional composition show similar changes during temperate forest swamp succession. Front. Plant Sci., 12.","DOI":"10.3389\/fpls.2021.658883"},{"key":"ref_19","first-page":"872","article-title":"Spatial patterns and influencing factors of specific leaf area in typical temperate forests","volume":"42","author":"Liu","year":"2022","journal-title":"Acta Ecol. Sin."},{"key":"ref_20","first-page":"2688","article-title":"Response mechanisms of woody plants to drought stress: A review based on plant hydraulic traits","volume":"44","author":"Cheng","year":"2024","journal-title":"Acta Ecol. Sin."},{"key":"ref_21","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","unstructured":"Bu, W., Huang, J., Xu, H., Zang, R., Ding, Y., Li, Y., Lin, M., Wang, J., and Zhang, C. (2019). Plant functional traits are the mediators in regulating effects of abiotic site conditions on aboveground carbon stock-evidence from a 30 ha tropical forest plot. Front. Plant Sci., 9.","DOI":"10.3389\/fpls.2018.01958"},{"key":"ref_22","first-page":"7773","article-title":"Functional traits and adaptability of dominant plants in lakeside wetlands of the Inner Mongolia Plateau","volume":"42","author":"Zhang","year":"2022","journal-title":"Acta Ecol. Sin."},{"key":"ref_23","first-page":"339","article-title":"Distribution patterns and controlling factors of wetland plant community diversity along environmental gradients in the Songnen Plain","volume":"43","author":"Liang","year":"2023","journal-title":"Acta Ecol. Sin."},{"key":"ref_24","first-page":"1559","article-title":"Adaptation of main leaf and root functional traits of Alhagi sparsifolia to water stress","volume":"38","author":"Xu","year":"2021","journal-title":"Pratacult. Sci."},{"key":"ref_25","first-page":"2009","article-title":"Research progress on plant branching formation and the main factors influencing branch number","volume":"25","author":"Li","year":"2024","journal-title":"J. Plant Genet. Resour."},{"key":"ref_26","first-page":"18","article-title":"Differences in leaf functional traits of desert plants under interspecific association patterns in different water\u2013salt environments around Ebinur Lake","volume":"31","author":"Cheng","year":"2022","journal-title":"J. Plant Resour. Environ."},{"key":"ref_27","first-page":"1802","article-title":"Effects of humic acid water-soluble fertilizer on the growth and physiological characteristics of Bupleurum chinense seedlings","volume":"49","author":"Peng","year":"2024","journal-title":"China J. Chin. Mater. Medica"},{"key":"ref_28","first-page":"626","article-title":"Responses of the invasive alien plant Erigeron canadensis to nutrient availability and fluctuation","volume":"41","author":"Ren","year":"2023","journal-title":"Plant Sci. J."},{"key":"ref_29","first-page":"521","article-title":"Regulation effects of fertilization on root morphology and needle physiological characteristics of Pinus armandii container seedlings","volume":"41","author":"Feng","year":"2023","journal-title":"Plant Sci. J."},{"key":"ref_30","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"1055","DOI":"10.17521\/cjpe.2022.0456","article-title":"Research progress on trade-offs in functional traits of fine roots","volume":"47","author":"Sun","year":"2023","journal-title":"Chin. J. Plant Ecol."},{"key":"ref_31","first-page":"1","article-title":"Seasonal variation and environmental regulation of leaf resource use efficiency of Rhamnus parvifolia shrubs under a Pinus tabuliformis forest in Miyun, Beijing","volume":"59","author":"Zhao","year":"2023","journal-title":"Sci. Silvae Sin."},{"key":"ref_32","first-page":"36","article-title":"Effects and mechanisms of increased light on understory Cinnamomum camphora seedlings","volume":"2024","author":"Cai","year":"2024","journal-title":"J. Cent. South Univ. For. Technol."},{"key":"ref_33","first-page":"355","article-title":"Responses of leaf functional traits of Pinus yunnanensis and dominant understory shrubs to forest degradation","volume":"46","author":"Shi","year":"2024","journal-title":"J. Yunnan Univ. Nat. Sci. Ed."},{"key":"ref_34","first-page":"133","article-title":"Characteristics and plasticity of leaf functional traits during the succession of Phoebe bournei","volume":"42","author":"Luo","year":"2022","journal-title":"J. Cent. South Univ. For. Technol."},{"key":"ref_35","first-page":"129","article-title":"Leaf functional traits of typical karst forest plants in different microhabitats","volume":"42","author":"Zhou","year":"2022","journal-title":"J. Cent. South Univ. For. Technol."},{"key":"ref_36","first-page":"2112","article-title":"Effects of precipitation differences on root and leaf functional traits of plants in the Inner Mongolian temperate steppe","volume":"42","author":"Xia","year":"2022","journal-title":"Acta Botan. Boreali-Occident. Sin."},{"key":"ref_37","first-page":"2418","article-title":"Response and adaptation of leaf functional traits of Eurya emarginata to environmental factors","volume":"42","author":"He","year":"2022","journal-title":"Acta Ecol. Sin."},{"key":"ref_38","first-page":"24","article-title":"Research progress of plant competitor-stress tolerator-ruderal (CSR) theory and its application","volume":"42","author":"Yao","year":"2022","journal-title":"Acta Ecol. Sin."},{"key":"ref_39","first-page":"328","article-title":"Functional traits of plants with different life forms in the Yanhe River Basin and their responses to environmental differences","volume":"30","author":"Zhu","year":"2023","journal-title":"Res. Soil Water Conserv."},{"key":"ref_40","first-page":"7308","article-title":"Research progress on the trade-off strategy and functional diversity of desert plants","volume":"42","author":"Li","year":"2022","journal-title":"Acta Ecol. Sin."},{"key":"ref_41","first-page":"3676","article-title":"Coordination among root, stem and leaf economic spectra of herbaceous plants in abandoned karst fields and their responses to extreme rainfall","volume":"44","author":"Zan","year":"2024","journal-title":"Acta Ecol. Sin."},{"key":"ref_42","unstructured":"(2014). Results of the second national wetland resources survey announced. Wetl. Sci. Manag., 10, 65."},{"key":"ref_43","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"167","DOI":"10.1071\/BT12225","article-title":"New handbook for standardised measurement of plant functional traits worldwide","volume":"61","author":"Garnier","year":"2013","journal-title":"Aust. J. Bot."}],"container-title":["Plants"],"original-title":[],"language":"en","link":[{"URL":"https:\/\/www.mdpi.com\/2223-7747\/15\/17\/2661\/pdf","content-type":"unspecified","content-version":"vor","intended-application":"similarity-checking"}],"deposited":{"date-parts":[[2026,9,1]],"date-time":"2026-09-01T04:25:14Z","timestamp":1788236714000},"score":1,"resource":{"primary":{"URL":"https:\/\/www.mdpi.com\/2223-7747\/15\/17\/2661"}},"subtitle":[],"short-title":[],"issued":{"date-parts":[[2026,8,30]]},"references-count":43,"journal-issue":{"issue":"17","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2026,9]]}},"alternative-id":["plants15172661"],"URL":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3390\/plants15172661","relation":{},"ISSN":["2223-7747"],"issn-type":[{"value":"2223-7747","type":"electronic"}],"subject":[],"published":{"date-parts":[[2026,8,30]]}}}