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Convergence of eco-physiological function in harsh habitats due to environmental filtering is well-known, however, some evidence of eco-physiological divergence in coexisting species also exists. Experimental data to verify whether divergence of eco-physiological function in coexisting species increases with increasing environmental stress remain limited. Here, we measured bulk leaf oxygen isotope and functional traits along a climatic stress gradient in a grassland in Tibetan Plateau where drought, excess radiation, and temperature increased from east to west. Enrichment (Δ18O) in bulk leaf oxygen isotope was used as proxy for time-integrated gs. We found that the leaf water use (Δ18O and leaf area [LA]) spectrum was independent of the leaf economic spectrum, indicating that coexisting species shifted from high nitrogen use efficiency (high ratio of leaf carbon to nitrogen) and water loss (high LA) in low-stress habitats to high photosynthetic capacity (high leaf nitrogen) and low water loss (low gs) in high-stress habitats. As the stress intensity of climate increases, higher mean and maximum and lower skewness (varying from positive to negative values) of Δ18O in coexisting species confirmed that the abundance of water-saving species increased to cope with climatic stress, while the greater standard deviation and kurtosis further indicated that climatic stress drove the divergence in gs in coexisting species. This study revealed that coexisting species adopt more diversified water use strategies and the abundance of water-saving species increases to cope with climatic stress, regardless of decreases in overall species abundance.

Environmentally persistent free radicals are pollutants recently detected in most environmental matrices such as fly ash, aerosols, soils and sediments. Their generation and transformation is poorly known, notably in the atmopshere. Here we modeled the effect of dioxygen O2, hydroxyl radical •OH, and nitrate radical NO3 on Cu(II)O surface-bound phenoxyl radical, using quantum chemical calculations and kinetics analysis. Results show that additional stabilization of the surface-bound phenoxyl radical is provided by the metal-oxide surface, implying that self-decomposition is not likely to occur. The addition reactions of hydroxyl and nitrate radicals with surface-mediated radicals are both thermodynamically and kinetically favorable, whereas the role of O2 appears negligible. The tropospheric lifetime of the Cu(II)O-based surface-bound phenoxyl radical is only few seconds to about one hour, in agreement with experimental observations from the literature. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• Overall species abundance decreased to cope with climatic stress. • Abundance of water-saving species increased to cope with climatic stress. • Climatic stress drove divergence of stomatal conductance in coexisting species. Convergence of eco-physiological function in harsh habitats due to environmental filtering is well-known, however, some evidence of eco-physiological divergence in coexisting species also exists. Experimental data to verify whether divergence of eco-physiological function in coexisting species increases with increasing environmental stress remain limited. Here, we measured bulk leaf oxygen isotope and functional traits along a climatic stress gradient in a grassland in Tibetan Plateau where drought, excess radiation, and temperature increased from east to west. Enrichment (Δ18O) in bulk leaf oxygen isotope was used as proxy for time-integrated gs. We found that the leaf water use (Δ18O and leaf area [LA]) spectrum was independent of the leaf economic spectrum, indicating that coexisting species shifted from high nitrogen use efficiency (high ratio of leaf carbon to nitrogen) and water loss (high LA) in low-stress habitats to high photosynthetic capacity (high leaf nitrogen) and low water loss (low gs) in high-stress habitats. As the stress intensity of climate increases, higher mean and maximum and lower skewness (varying from positive to negative values) of Δ18O in coexisting species confirmed that the abundance of water-saving species increased to cope with climatic stress, while the greater standard deviation and kurtosis further indicated that climatic stress drove the divergence in gs in coexisting species. This study revealed that coexisting species adopt more diversified water use strategies and the abundance of water-saving species increases to cope with climatic stress, regardless of decreases in overall species abundance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]