scholarly journals Nitrogen addition affects plant biomass allocation but not allometric relationships among different organs across the globe

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kai Yue ◽  
Dario A Fornara ◽  
Wang Li ◽  
Xiangyin Ni ◽  
Yan Peng ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Biomass Allocation ◽  
Mass Fraction ◽  
Plant Biomass ◽  
Terrestrial Ecosystems ◽  
Interactive Effects ◽  
N Addition ◽  
Allometric Relationships ◽  
Optimal Partitioning ◽  
Whole Plant ◽  
Allocation Patterns

Abstract Aims Biomass allocation to different organs is a fundamental plant ecophysiological process to better respond to changing environments; yet, it remains poorly understood how patterns of biomass allocation respond to nitrogen (N) additions across terrestrial ecosystems worldwide. Methods We conducted a meta-analysis using 5474 pairwise observations from 333 articles to assess how N addition affected plant biomass and biomass allocation among different organs. We also tested the “ratio-based optimal partitioning” vs. the “isometric allocation” hypotheses to explain potential N addition effects on biomass allocation. Important findings We found that (1) N addition significantly increased whole plant biomass and the biomass of different organs, but decreased root:shoot ratio (RS) and root mass fraction (RMF) while no effects of N addition on leaf mass fraction (LMF) and stem mass fraction (SMF) at the global scale; (2) the effects of N addition on ratio-based biomass allocation were mediated by individual or interactive effects of moderator variables such as experimental conditions, plant functional types, latitudes, and rates of N addition; and (3) N addition did not affect allometric relationships among different organs, suggesting that decreases in RS and RMF may result from isometric allocation patterns following increases in whole plant biomass. Despite alteration of ratio-based biomass allocation between root and shoot by N addition, the unaffected allometric scaling relationships among different organs (including root vs. shoot) suggest that plant biomass allocation patterns are more appropriately explained by the isometric allocation hypothesis rather than the optimal partitioning hypothesis. Our findings contribute to better understand N-induced effects on allometric relationships of terrestrial plants, and suggest that these ecophysiological responses should be incorporated into models that aim to predict how terrestrial ecosystems may respond to enhanced N deposition under future global change scenarios.

Effects of short-term N addition on plant biomass allocation and C and N pools of theSibiraea angustatascrub ecosystem

2017 ◽  
Vol 68 (2) ◽  
pp. 212-220 ◽  
Author(s):  
D. Wang ◽  
H. L. He ◽  
Q. Gao ◽  
C. Z. Zhao ◽  
W. Q. Zhao ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Biomass Allocation ◽  
Plant Biomass ◽  
N Addition ◽  
Short Term ◽  
C And N ◽  
C And N Pools

scholarly journals Effects of rainfall manipulation and nitrogen addition on plant biomass allocation in a semiarid sandy grassland

2020 ◽  
Vol 10 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Jing Zhang ◽  
Xiaoan Zuo ◽  
Xueyong Zhao ◽  
Jianxia Ma ◽  
Eduardo Medina-Roldán
Keyword(s):  
Biomass Allocation ◽  
Plant Biomass ◽  
Extreme Rainfall ◽  
Growing Season ◽  
Nitrogen Addition ◽  
Extreme Drought ◽  
N Addition ◽  
Rainfall Distribution ◽  
Grassland Plants ◽  
Sandy Grassland

Abstract Extreme climate events and nitrogen (N) deposition are increasingly affecting the structure and function of terrestrial ecosystems. However, the response of plant biomass to variations to these global change drivers is still unclear in semi-arid regions, especially in degraded sandy grasslands. In this study, a manipulative field experiment run over two years (from 2017 to 2018) was conducted to examine the effect of rainfall alteration and nitrogen addition on biomass allocation of annuals and perennial plants in Horqin sandy grassland, Northern China. Our experiment simulated extreme rainfall and extreme drought (a 60% reduction or increment in the growing season rainfall with respect to a control background) and N addition (20 g/m2) during the growing seasons. We found that the sufficient rainfall during late July and August compensates for biomass losses caused by insufficient water in May and June. When rainfall distribution is relatively uniform during the growing season, extreme rainfall increased aboveground biomass (AGB) and belowground biomass (BGB) of annuals, while extreme drought reduced AGB and BGB of perennials. Rainfall alteration had no significant impacts on the root-shoot ratio (R/S) of sandy grassland plants, while N addition reduced R/S of grassland species when there was sufficient rainfall in the early growing season. The biomass of annuals was more sensitive to rainfall alteration and nitrogen addition than the biomass of perennials. Our findings emphasize the importance of monthly rainfall distribution patterns during the growing season, which not only directly affect the growth and development of grassland plants, but also affect the nitrogen availability of grassland plants.

The effects of living roots and arbuscular mycorrhiza fungi (AMF) on soil N2O emissions

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Yawen Shen ◽  
Tianle Xu ◽  
Biao Zhu
Keyword(s):  
Arbuscular Mycorrhiza ◽  
Phosphorus Content ◽  
Plant Biomass ◽  
Terrestrial Ecosystems ◽  
N2o Emissions ◽  
Net N Mineralization ◽  
N Addition ◽  
Unplanted Soil ◽  
Arbuscular Mycorrhiza Fungi ◽  
P Addition

<p>Living roots and arbuscular mycorrhiza fungi (AMF) are widespread in most terrestrial ecosystems and play an important role in ecosystem nitrogen (N) cycling. However, the influence of living roots and AMF on soil N<sub>2</sub>O emissions remains poorly understood. In this study, we conducted a pot experiment with ryegrass (Lolium perenne) growing in a greenhouse for three months with three factors: root and AMF presence (None or unplanted, Root or with roots, and Root+AMF or with roots colonized by AMF), two N addition levels (N0 and N1 with 0 and 50 mg N kg<sup>-1</sup> soil) and two P addition levels (P0 and P1, with 0 and 20 mg P kg<sup>-1</sup> soil).</p><p> </p><p>Our results showed that N addition didn’t have significant effect on N<sub>2</sub>O emission, however, we detected significant effects of Root and Root+AMF, particularly under P addition. Though the colonization of AMF didn’t significantly influence N<sub>2</sub>O emission, the presence of roots (Root and AMF+Root treatments) deceased N<sub>2</sub>O emission by 58%-67% compared with the None treatment. P addition increased (+134%) N<sub>2</sub>O emission from unplanted soil but decreased (74%-98%) N<sub>2</sub>O emission under planted soil regardless of AMF colonization. Moreover, there were no significant relationship between N<sub>2</sub>O emission and soil pH, NH<sub>4</sub><sup>+</sup>-N and net N mineralization. The lower N<sub>2</sub>O emission from rooted treatments were mainly due to the lower soil NO<sub>3</sub><sup>-</sup>-N (and MBN) content which might be immobilized by plant biomass, while the higher N<sub>2</sub>O emission from unplanted soil under P addition was attributed to increased soil available (r=0.760, P<0.01) and total (r=0.654, P<0.01) phosphorus content. We conclude that root presence and P addition played an important role in regulating N<sub>2</sub>O emission from P-limited soils.</p><p></p>

scholarly journals The Effect of Nutrient Regime on Biomass Allocation and Nutrient Accumulation in Red Oak Seedlings

HortScience ◽  
1995 ◽  
Vol 30 (4) ◽  
pp. 859F-859
Author(s):  
Jill C. Larimer ◽  
Dan Struve
Keyword(s):  
Biomass Allocation ◽  
Plant Biomass ◽  
N Fertilizer ◽  
Water Soluble ◽  
Fertilizer Treatment ◽  
Total N ◽  
Whole Plant ◽  
Total Plant Biomass ◽  
Total Plant ◽  
Stems And Leaves

ln Spring 1993, red oaks (Quercus rubra) were propagated from seed. From June through October, plants were fertilized twice daily with 1.4 liters of 20N–10P–20K water-soluble fertilizer solution at concentrations of 0, 25, 50, 100, 200, or 400 ppm N. Destructive harvests were conducted six times at intervals from June through Dec. 1993. Leaf area, stem height, root length, root area, and dry weights of roots, stem, and leaves of harvested plants were measured and tissue nutrient concentrations were analyzed. There was no relationship between whole-plant N concentration and total plant biomass (r = 0). However, there were some linear relationships between total plant N and total plant biomass for an individual fertilizer treatment. Biomass allocation between root, stems, and leaves was very consistent across all fertilizer levels at any one harvest. Percent total N in roots, stems, and leaves also was fairly consistent across fertilizer levels. This was true at each harvest, except the first two, in which a greater percentage of total N was partitioned to the leaves and a smaller percentage was partitioned to the roots in the high (100, 200, 400 ppm N) fertilizer treatments. Whole-plant K concentrations increased with increasing fertilizer level, but decreased over time. Whole-plant P concentrations increased linearly with whole-plant dry weight in the higher (100, 200, 400 ppm N) fertilizer treatments.

Biomass allocation strategies shaping woody species adaptations to shade and drought

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Giacomo Puglielli ◽  
Lauri Laanisto ◽  
Hendrik Poorter ◽  
Ülo Niinemets
Keyword(s):  
Biomass Allocation ◽  
Woody Species ◽  
Global Scale ◽  
Plant Functional Types ◽  
Plant Functional Type ◽  
Functional Type ◽  
Optimal Partitioning ◽  
Functional Types ◽  
Optimal Partitioning Theory ◽  
Allocation Patterns

<p>Optimal partitioning theory predicts that plants allocate a greater proportion of biomass to the organs acquiring the most limiting resource when different environments challenge a given species (acclimation). Results are disputed when testing how biomass allocation patterns among species with contrasting tolerance of abiotic stress factors (adaptation) conform to optimal partitioning theory.</p><p>We tested the optimal partitioning theory by analyzing the relationships of proportional biomass allocation to leaves, stems and roots with species tolerance of shade and drought at a global scale including ~7000 observations for 604 woody species. The dataset spanned three plant functional types. In order to correct for ontogeny, differences among plant functional types at different levels of shade and drought tolerance were evaluated at three ontogenetic stages: seedlings, small trees and big trees. Adaptation and acclimation responses were also compared.</p><p>We did not find overarching biomass allocation patterns at different tolerance values across species even if tolerant and intolerant species rarely overlapped in the trait space. Biomass allocation mainly varied among plant functional types due to phenological (deciduous vs. evergreen broad-leaved species) and broad phylogenetical (angiosperms vs. gymnosperms) differences. Furthermore, the direction of biomass allocation responses between tolerant and intolerant species was often opposite compared to that predicted by the optimal partitioning theory.</p><p>Plant functional type is the major determinant of biomass allocation patterns in woody species at the global scale. Finally, interactions between ontogeny, plant functional type, species-specific stress tolerance<strong> </strong>adaptations (i.e. changes in organs surface area per unit dry mass), phenotypic plasticity or convergence in plant architecture can alter biomass allocation differences. All these factors permit woody species with different shade and drought tolerances to display multiple biomass partitioning strategies.</p>

The role of biomass allocation in the growth response of plants to different levels of light, CO2, nutrients and water: a quantitative review

2000 ◽  
Vol 27 (6) ◽  
pp. 595 ◽  
Author(s):  
Hendrik Poorter ◽  
Oscar Nagel
Keyword(s):  
Leaf Area ◽  
Biomass Allocation ◽  
Mass Fraction ◽  
Plant Biomass ◽  
Growth Parameters ◽  
Meta Analysis ◽  
Carbon Gain ◽  
Leaf Biomass ◽  
Functional Equilibrium ◽  
Leaf Mass

The allocation of biomass to different plant organs depends on species, ontogeny and on the environment experienced by the plant. In this paper we first discuss some methodological tools to describe and analyse the allocation of biomass. Rather than the use of shoot:root ratios, we plead strongly for a subdivision of biomass into at least three compartments: leaves, stems and roots. Attention is drawn to some of the disadvantages of allometry as a tool to correct for size differences between plants. Second, we tested the extent to which biomass allocation of plants follows the model of a ‘functional equilibrium’. According to this model, plants respond to a decrease in above-ground resources with increased allocation to shoots (leaves), whereas they respond to a decrease in below-ground resources with increased allocation to roots. We carried out a meta-analysis of the literature, analysing the effect of various environmental variables on the fraction of total plant biomass allocated to leaves (leaf mass fraction), stem (stem mass fraction) and roots (root mass fraction). The responses to light, nutrients and water agreed with the (qualitative) prediction of the ‘functional equilibrium’ theory. The notable exception was atmospheric CO2, which did not affect allocation when the concentration was doubled. Third, we analysed the quantitative importance of the changes in allocation compared to changes in other growth parameters, such as unit leaf rate (the net difference between carbon gain and carbon losses per unit time and leaf area), and specific leaf area (leaf area: leaf biomass). The effects of light, CO2 and water on leaf mass fractions were small compared to their effects on relative growth rate. The effects of nutrients, however, were large, suggesting that only in the case of nutrients, biomass allocation is a major factor in the response of plants to limiting resource supply.

scholarly journals Rethinking root-shoot growth dynamics

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
David Robinson
Keyword(s):  
Growth Rate ◽  
Plant Growth ◽  
Biomass Allocation ◽  
Plant Biomass ◽  
Wide Spectrum ◽  
Growth Dynamics ◽  
Adaptive Allocation ◽  
Physiological Properties ◽  
Whole Plant ◽  
Rates Of Growth

AbstractUsing a simple plant growth model based on the logistic equation I re-evaluate how biomass allocation between roots and shoots articulates dynamically with the rate of whole-plant biomass production. Defined by parameters reflecting lumped physiological properties, the model constrains roots and shoots to grow sigmoidally over time. From those temporal patterns detailed trajectories of allocation and growth rate are reconstructed. Sigmoid growth trajectories of roots and shoots are incompatible with the dominant ‘functional equilibrium’ model of adaptive allocation and growth often used to explain plants’ responses to nutrient shortage and defoliation. Anything that changes the differential rates of growth between roots and shoots will automatically change allocation and, unavoidably, change whole-plant growth rate. Biomass allocation and whole-plant growth rate are not independent traits. Allocation and growth rate have no unique relationship to one another but can vary across a wide spectrum of possible relationships. When root-shoot allocation seems to respond to the environment it is likely to be a secondary illusory consequence of other primary responses such as localised root proliferation in soil or leaf expansion within canopy gaps. Changes in root-shoot allocation cannot themselves compensate directly for an impairment of growth rate caused by an external factor such as nutrient shortage or defoliation; therefore, such changes cannot be ‘adaptive’.‘The reasons are so simple they often escape notice.’ (James 2012, p. 6).

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