Convergence is commonly caused by environmental filtering, severe climatic conditions and local disturbance. The basic aim of the present study was to understand the pattern of leaf traits across diverse desert plant species in a common garden, in addition to determining the effect of plant life forms (PLF), such as herb, shrub and subshrub, phylogeny and soil properties on leaf traits. Six leaf traits, namely carbon (C), nitrogen (N), phosphorus (P), potassium (K), δ¹³C and leaf water potential (LWP) of 37 dominant desert plant species were investigated and analyzed. The C, N, K and δ¹³C concentrations in leaves of shrubs were found higher than herbs and subshrubs; however, P and LWP levels were higher in the leaves of subshrubs following herbs and shrubs. Moreover, leaf C showed a significant positive correlation with N and a negative correlation with δ¹³C. Leaf N exhibited a positive correlation with P. The relationship between soil and plant macro-elements was found generally insignificant but soil C and N exhibited a significant positive correlation with leaf P. Taxonomy showed a stronger effect on leaf C, N, P and δ¹³C than soil properties, explaining >50% of the total variability. C₃ plants showed higher leaf C, N, P, K and LWP concentration than C₄ plants, whereas C₄ plants had higher δ¹³C than C₃ plants. Legumes exhibited higher leaf C, N, K and LWP than nonlegumes, while nonlegumes had higher P and δ¹³C concentration than legumes. In all the species, significant phylogenetic signals (PS) were detected for C and N and nonsignificant PS for the rest of the leaf traits. In addition, these phylogenetic signals were found lower (K-value < 1), and the maximum K-value was noted for C (K = 0.35). The plants of common garden evolved and adapted themselves for their survival in the arid environment and showed convergent variations in their leaf traits. However, these variations were not phylogenetics-specific. Furthermore, marks of convergence found in leaf traits of the study area were most likely due to the environmental factors.

中文翻译：

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沙漠植物叶子性状的趋同变异。


收敛通常是由环境过滤、恶劣的气候条件和局部干扰引起的。本研究的基本目的是了解常见花园中不同沙漠植物物种的叶子性状模式，此外还确定植物生命形式（PLF）（例如草本、灌木和亚灌木）、系统发育和土壤的影响叶性状的特性。对37种优势荒漠植物的碳（C）、氮（N）、磷（P）、钾（K）、δ ¹³ C和叶水势（LWP）6个叶片性状进行了调查分析。灌木叶中C、N、K和δ ¹³ C浓度高于草本和亚灌木；然而，亚灌木叶子中的 P 和 LWP 水平高于草本和灌木。此外，叶片C与N呈显着正相关，与δ ¹³ C呈负相关。叶片N与P呈正相关。土壤与植物常量元素之间的关系一般不显着，而土壤C和N则表现出显着的相关性。与叶 P 呈正相关。分类学显示对叶 C、N、P 和 δ ¹³ C 的影响比土壤特性更强，解释了 > 50% 的总变异性。 C ₃植物比C ₄植物表现出更高的叶C、N、P、K和LWP浓度，而C ₄植物比C ₃植物具有更高的δ ¹³ C。豆科植物的叶片 C、N、K 和 LWP 高于非豆科植物，而非豆科植物的 P 和 δ ¹³ C 浓度高于豆科植物。在所有物种中，C 和 N 均检测到显着的系统发育信号 (PS)，而其余叶片性状则检测到不显着的 PS。 此外，发现这些系统发育信号较低（ K值 < 1），并且 C 的K值最大（ K = 0.35）。普通园林植物为了在干旱环境中生存而进化和适应，并在叶子性状上表现出趋同变异。然而，这些变异并不是系统发育特异性的。此外，研究区域叶片性状的趋同迹象很可能是由环境因素造成的。