Carbohydrate Reserves, Translocation, and Storage in Woody Plant Roots

Loescher, Wayne H.; McCamant, Thaddeus; Keller, John D.

doi:10.21273/hortsci.25.3.274

Cited by 348 publications

(219 citation statements)

References 92 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

183

Contrasting

Unclassified

Order By: Relevance

“…For example needles accounted for up to 68% of the total C pool of Pinus cembra trees, while roots accounted only for 17% (Li et al 2002). These numbers are very different to the ones reported in this study for B. pubescens, or those cited in the literature for other winter deciduous species, where coarse roots and main stems account for most of the NSC pools of the plant (Loescher, McCamant & Keller 1990;Abod & Webster 1991). Consequently, browsing or defoliation in evergreen conifers implies not only decreasing total leaf area, as in winter deciduous species, but also eliminating most of the C (Li et al 2002) and N (Millard et al 2001) stores of the plant.…”

Section: Discussioncontrasting

confidence: 99%

Browsed Betula pubescens trees are not carbon‐limited

Palacio¹,

Hester²,

Maestro³

et al. 2008

Functional Ecology

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Summary 1.Slower growth after repetitive browsing of young trees has been attributed to a carbon (C) limitation, but data from long-term studies are lacking. To determine if repeated summer browsing causes a C (source) limitation in trees in the long-term, we analysed the non-structural carbohydrate (NSC) and nitrogen (N) concentrations and pools of Betula pubescens saplings subjected to different clipping treatments (unclipped, 33% and 66% shoot removal) for 7 years. 2. The short-term effect of browsing on C allocation was assessed by clipping trees with different browsing histories and analyzing their C and N responses within the same growing season. 3. Long-term repetitive summer browsing significantly decreased sapling growth and soluble sugar (SS) concentrations in fine roots. However, trees subjected to different browsing histories did not change their C partitioning into starch. Although trees with a different browsing history showed differences in the NSC concentrations and pools of leaves, these differences were not maintained through time. 4. Simulated browsing had no significant short-term effect on root C and N pools of birch trees, but it decreased all C pools in leaves, 1-year and current-year stems and the starch and total NSC pools in main stems. 5. We conclude that although browsing may cause a temporary decrease in C pools, B. pubescens trees are able to compensate for such losses and hence are not C-limited in the long-term.

show abstract

Section: Discussioncontrasting

confidence: 99%

Browsed Betula pubescens trees are not carbon‐limited

Palacio¹,

Hester²,

Maestro³

et al. 2008

Functional Ecology

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…The lowest TNC values were measured for the two Aspidosperma , the only deciduous species in the study. These low values may reflect the sampling several months after leaf flush, since deciduous species frequently exhibit considerable seasonality in TNC content (Loescher et al . 1990;Wan & Sosebee 1990).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Comparative fire ecology of tropical savanna and forest trees

2003

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Summary 1.Fire is important in the dynamics of savanna-forest boundaries, often maintaining a balance between forest advance and retreat. 2. We performed a comparative ecological study to understand how savanna and forest species differ in traits related to fire tolerance. We compared bark thickness, root and stem carbohydrates, and height of reproductive individuals within 10 congeneric pairs, each containing one savanna and one forest species. 3. Bark thickness of savanna species averaged nearly three times that of forest species, thereby reducing the risk of stem death during fire. The allometric relationship between bark thickness and stem diameter differed between these two tree types, with forest species tending to have a larger allometric coefficient. 4. The height of reproductive individuals of forest species averaged twice that of congeneric savanna species. This should increase the time necessary for forest species to reach reproductive size, thereby reducing their capacity to reach maturity in the time between consecutive fires. 5. There was no difference in total non-structural carbohydrate content of stems or roots between savanna and forest species, though greater allocation to total root biomass by savanna species probably confers greater capacity to resprout following fire. 6. These differences in fire-related traits may largely explain the greater capacity of savanna species to persist in the savanna environment.

show abstract

“…1). Because photosynthetic tissues were not fully developed at the time root regrowth started, nonstructural carbohydrate reserves in rhizomes and coarse roots could have supported belowground and aboveground growth (Loescher et al, 1990). Therefore, elevated [CO 2 ] may increase the turnover of belowground plant carbon.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Accelerated belowground C cycling in a managed agriforest ecosystem exposed to elevated carbon dioxide concentrations

Trueman

Gonzàlez-Meler

2005

Global Change Biology

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

We investigated the effects of three elevated atmospheric CO 2 levels on a Populus deltoides plantation at Biosphere 2 Laboratory in Oracle Arizona. Stable isotopes of carbon have been used as tracers to separate the carbon present before the CO 2 treatments started (old C), from that fixed after CO 2 treatments began (new C). Tree growth at elevated [CO 2 ] increased inputs to soil organic matter (SOM) by increasing the production of fine roots and accelerating the rate of root C turnover. However, soil carbon content decreased as [CO 2 ] in the atmosphere increased and inputs of new C were not found in SOM. Consequently, the rates of soil respiration increased by 141% and 176% in the 800 and 1200 lL L À1 plantations, respectively, when compared with ambient [CO 2 ] after 4 years of exposure. However, the increase in decomposition of old SOM (i.e. already present when CO 2 treatments began) accounted for 72% and 69% of the increase in soil respiration seen under elevated [CO 2 ]. This resulted in a net loss of soil C at a rate that was between 10 and 20 times faster at elevated [CO 2 ] than at ambient conditions. The inability to retain new and old C in the soil may stem from the lack of stabilization of SOM, allowing for its rapid decomposition by soil heterotrophs.

show abstract

Carbohydrate Reserves, Translocation, and Storage in Woody Plant Roots

Cited by 348 publications

References 92 publications

Browsed Betula pubescens trees are not carbon‐limited

Browsed Betula pubescens trees are not carbon‐limited

Comparative fire ecology of tropical savanna and forest trees

Accelerated belowground C cycling in a managed agriforest ecosystem exposed to elevated carbon dioxide concentrations

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About