Biomass and nitrogen distribution ratios reveal a reduced root investment in temperate lianas vs. self-supporting plants.

Clicks: 225
ID: 86431
2019
Article Quality & Performance Metrics
Overall Quality
Not rated
Combines reader engagement with the AI quality analysis. This article has not been analysed, so there is no overall score — reader engagement is measured and shown alongside.
AI Quality Assessment
Not analyzed
Readership in this journal
Popular

Ranked #13 of 207 articles by views in Annals of botany

Most read Least read

Bar heights use a square-root scale. Only the 120 most-read articles are drawn; the journal has 207 in total.

Mint this article as an NFT
Not yet minted

Create a permanent, verifiable on-chain record of this article on the Scimatic Network. The NFT is held in your Journament account, and you can withdraw it to your own wallet at any time.

5 SUSD one-off · no wallet required
Sign in to mint
Abstract
The reliance on external support by lianas has been hypothesized to imply a reduction in the biomass cost of stem construction and root anchorage, and an increased investment in leaves, relative to self-supporting plants. These evolutionary trade-offs have not been adequately tested in an ontogenetic context and on the whole-plant scale. Moreover, the hypothesis may be extended to other potentially limiting resources, such as nitrogen (N.).Plants belonging to five con-familiar pairs of temperate liana/shrub species were cultivated in 120 L barrels and sequentially harvested over up to three growing seasons. To account for the ontogenetic drift, organ biomass and nitrogen fractions were adjusted for plant biomass and N pool, respectively.Lianas invested, on average, relatively less biomass in the root fraction in comparison with shrubs. This was offset by only insignificant increases in leaf or stem investment. Even though liana stems and roots showed higher N concentration in comparison with shrubs, plant N distribution was mostly driven by, and largely matched, the pattern of biomass distribution. Lianas also showed a greater relative growth rate than shrubs. The differences between the growth forms became apparent only when ontogenetic drift was controlled for. These results were confirmed regardless of whether reproductive biomass was included in the analysis.Our results suggest that temperate lianas, in spite of their diverse, species-specific resource distribution patterns, preferentially allocate resources to above-ground organs at the expense of roots. By identifying this trade-off and demonstrating the lack of a general trend for reduction in stem investment in lianas, we significantly modify the prevailing view of liana allocation strategies and evolutionary advantages. Such a resource distribution pattern, along with the cheap unit leaf area and stem unit length construction, situates lianas as a group close to the fast acquisition/rapid growth end of the life strategy spectrum.
Reference Key
wyka2019biomassannals Use this key to autocite in the manuscript while using SciMatic Manuscript Manager or Thesis Manager
Authors Wyka, Tomasz P;Zadworny, Marcin;Mucha, Joanna;Żytkowiak, Roma;Nowak, Kinga;Oleksyn, Jacek;
Journal Annals of botany
Year 2019
DOI
10.1093/aob/mcz061
URL
Keywords
shrubs resource allocation climbing plants allocation trade-offs growth forms leaf mass fraction lianas

Citations

No citations found. To add a citation, contact the admin at info@scimatic.org

Comments

No comments yet. Be the first to comment on this article.