Search for Articles:
Title / Keyword
Author / Affiliation / Email
Journal
Article Type
 
 
Advanced Search
 
Section
Special Issue
Volume
Issue
Number
Page
 
8.5
4.7
Journals
Plants
Special Issues
The Growth of Plants in Arid Environments
share announcement

The Growth of Plants in Arid Environments

A special issue of Plants (ISSN 2223-7747). This special issue belongs to the section "Plant Response to Abiotic Stress and Climate Change".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: 30 September 2026 | Viewed by 1597

Editors

Dr. Maierdang Keyimu

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Research Center for Desert and Oasis Ecology, Xinjiang Institute of Ecology and Geography, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Urumqi 830011, China
Interests: arid environment; wood anatomy; growth ring; climate change
Dr. Zongshan Li

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
State Key Laboratory of Regional and Urban Ecology, Research Center for Eco-Environmental Sciences, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100085, China
Interests: climate change; dendroecology; plant physiology; adaptation
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

This Special Issue of Plants, entitled "The Growth of Plants in Arid Environments," seeks to compile cutting-edge research on the growth patterns and survival strategies of flora in the world's most water-limited ecosystems. With arid and semi-arid regions expanding due to climate change, understanding the mechanisms that allow plants to survive and thrive under such extreme conditions is critical for ecological conservation and sustainable development.

This Special Issue is intentionally interdisciplinary in scope, welcoming contributions that explore the complex interplay among plant morphology, physiology, and ecology. We invite original research and comprehensive review articles investigating plant adaptations in arid environments. A key focus will be placed on morphological, physiological, and molecular mechanisms underpinning stress tolerance—such as water conservation strategies and the development of robust root architectures to enhance water and nutrient uptake. This issue will also highlight studies on anatomical traits that confer resilience, including leaf morphological plasticity and the formation and composition of xylem structures resistant to embolism, thereby ensuring efficient and safe water transport. We welcome submissions across all areas related to plant growth in arid environments, including wood anatomy, growth ring formation, growth responses to climate and environmental change, and adaptation strategies to environmental stressors.

By synthesizing knowledge from molecular to ecosystem levels, this Special Issue aims to provide a foundational resource for scientists and policymakers, fostering the development of innovative strategies for ecosystem restoration and reconstruction, and the sustainable management of fragile dryland ecosystems under future climate scenarios.

Dr. Maierdang Keyimu
Dr. Zongshan Li
Guest Editors

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 250 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for assessment.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-anonymized peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Plants is an international peer-reviewed open access semimonthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2700 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

  • arid environment
  • plant growth
  • adaptation strategy
  • pheynotypic plasticity
  • physiological adjustment
  • wood anatomy

Benefits of Publishing in a Special Issue

  • Ease of navigation: Grouping papers by topic helps scholars navigate broad scope journals more efficiently.
  • Greater discoverability: Special Issues support the reach and impact of scientific research. Articles in Special Issues are more discoverable and cited more frequently.
  • Expansion of research network: Special Issues facilitate connections among authors, fostering scientific collaborations.
  • External promotion: Articles in Special Issues are often promoted through the journal's social media, increasing their visibility.
  • Reprint: MDPI Books provides the opportunity to republish successful Special Issues in book format, both online and in print.

Further information on MDPI's Special Issue policies can be found here.

Published Papers (2 papers)

Download All Papers
Order results
Result details
Show export options expand_more Show export options expand_less
Select all
Export citation of selected articles as:

Research

18 pages, 12862 KB  
Article
Coordinated Ecophysiological Trait Shifts of Populus euphratica Along a Groundwater-Depth Gradient: From Carbon Acquisition Toward Water Conservation in an Arid Riparian Forest
by Yong Zhu, Hongmeng Feng, Ran Liu, Jie Ma and Xinying Wang
Plants 2026, 15(9), 1295; https://doi.org/10.3390/plants15091295 - 22 Apr 2026
Viewed by 303
Abstract
Under the combined pressures of climate change and irrigated cropland expansion, groundwater tables are declining rapidly across arid regions, thereby intensifying water limitation in riparian ecosystems. However, the mechanisms by which dominant riparian tree species coordinate multiple functional traits to maintain carbon–water balance [...] Read more.
Under the combined pressures of climate change and irrigated cropland expansion, groundwater tables are declining rapidly across arid regions, thereby intensifying water limitation in riparian ecosystems. However, the mechanisms by which dominant riparian tree species coordinate multiple functional traits to maintain carbon–water balance remains poorly understood. This study investigated coordinated ecophysiological trait shifts of Populus euphratica Oliv. along a groundwater-depth gradient (2.19, 4.88, and 7.45 m) in the middle reaches of the Tarim River (China), hereafter referred to as shallow, middle, and deep groundwater depths, respectively. We quantified photosynthetic, hydraulic, stomatal, leaf anatomical and nutrient traits, and estimated long-term intrinsic water-use efficiency (WUEi) from foliar δ13C. As the groundwater table declined, (1) photosynthetic capacity and photochemical performance decreased, whereas WUEi increased markedly from 38.5 ± 2.9 to 54.2 ± 1.0 μmol mmol−1, accompanied by the lowest transpiration rate at the deep groundwater depth (4.6 ± 0.5 mmol m−2 s−1); (2) stomatal and anatomical adjustments consistent with water-loss reduction were observed, including a significant decline in stomatal density from 93.5 ± 14.5 to 79.3 ± 17.4 pores mm−2, and reduced stomatal size and stomatal area fraction (−20.3% and −32.7%, respectively); (3) the percentage loss of hydraulic conductivity increased, whereas sapwood-specific hydraulic conductivity declined, accompanied by greater sapwood investment relative to leaf area, with Huber value rising from 0.06 ± 0.02 to 0.11 ± 0.04 mm2 cm−2 at deep water depth; and (4) chlorophyll concentrations and leaf water content declined, whereas structural investment increased, as reflected by higher specific leaf mass and leaf dry matter content, and leaf nutrients were enriched, with total nitrogen and total phosphorus increasing by 67.1% and 42.0%, respectively. Trait-WUEi relationships further indicated that WUEi covaried most strongly with leaf anatomical and nutrient traits. These results demonstrate that increasing groundwater depth was associated with coordinated shifts in carbon assimilation, water-use regulation, hydraulic function, and nutrient allocation in P. euphratica. Such trait coordination may help explain how this species persists under chronic water limitation in arid riparian forests. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue The Growth of Plants in Arid Environments)
►▼ Show Figures

Figure 1

19 pages, 6454 KB  
Article
Physiological and Biochemical Characters of Eight Native Tree Seedings in Guangdong Province During Drought Stress and Rewatering Treatment
by Qiutong Liu, Zhihong Liu, Jingquan Liu, Kexin Li, Jieyu Lin, Shufan Lin, Zijia Su, Xinyi Fan, Yv Su and Zujing Chen
Plants 2026, 15(4), 528; https://doi.org/10.3390/plants15040528 - 8 Feb 2026
Viewed by 887
Abstract
Native tree species play a crucial role in addressing the challenge of seasonal drought in South China. In this study, one-year-old seedlings of eight native tree species in Guangdong Province were subjected to continuous simulated drought stress and rewatering. In order to identify [...] Read more.
Native tree species play a crucial role in addressing the challenge of seasonal drought in South China. In this study, one-year-old seedlings of eight native tree species in Guangdong Province were subjected to continuous simulated drought stress and rewatering. In order to identify key drought-resistant traits and best performing tree species, physiological and biochemical responses were assessed through 21 indicators. The results showed the following: (1) All species exhibited responses to drought stress prior to the fourth day, as evidenced by reductions in morphological indicators (crown breadth and ground diameter) and photosynthetic parameters (chlorophyll content, transpiration rate, net photosynthetic rate and stomatal conductance), along with increases in osmotic substances (soluble protein and proline) and antioxidant-related indicators malondialdehyde, peroxidase and superoxide dismutase). (2) The crown breadth, leaf relative water content, chlorophyll content, and ascorbate peroxidase activity were significantly decreased under drought stress. And these indicators were not recovered to pre-stress levels following rewatering. (3) Mantel tests revealed that growth morphological characteristics, particularly plant height, were significantly and positively correlated with most osmotic substances indicators (p < 0.001). Specifically, plant height showed the strongest coupling with these traits, with Mantel’s r ranging from 0.44 to 0.89. In addition, the leaf relative water content, net photosynthetic rate, superoxide dismutase, and malondialdehyde were regarded as the key drought-resistant traits, providing insights into future research on plant improvement, stress-resilience breeding and even drought resistance mechanisms. (4) The eight tree species are ranked from most to least drought-resistant as follows: Zenia insignis, Michelia macclurei, Phoebe zhennan, Phoebe bournei, Erythrophleum fordii, Dalbergia odorifera, Cinnamomum burmanni and Michelia chapensis. This study provides a scientific basis for selecting tree species for afforestation in seasonally arid regions. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue The Growth of Plants in Arid Environments)
►▼ Show Figures

Graphical abstract

Show export options expand_more Show export options expand_less
Select all
Export citation of selected articles as:
 
Displaying articles 1-2
Back to TopTop