Journal Article

Conservative allocation strategy of multiple nutrients among major plant organs

Liu, Congcong, Zhao, Ning, He, Nianpeng, Wang, Ruili, Wang, Qiufeng, Zhang, Jiahui, Yu, Guirui

2020

Overview

Nutrient allocation is an important aspect of plant resource uptake and use, which is related to life‐history strategies. Although to date considerable attention has focused on plant allocation of nitrogen and phosphorus, comparatively little information is available on the allocation of various other nutrients and their up‐scaling from the species to community level. We measured 10 nutrient elements in the leaves, branches and fine roots of 551 plant species growing in eight forest ecosystems in China, ranging from cold temperate to subtropical forests. We estimated the scaling relationship of multiple nutrients among plant organs at the species level and scaled‐up the relationship to the community level by combining this information with that of community structure. Nutrient allocation among plant organs was conserved in different functional groups and biomes across broad environmental gradients. Nutrient partitioning between organs with similar function tended to be isometric, whereas partitioning between organs with distinct functions tended to be allometric. The scaling relationship between above‐ and below‐ground organs remained consistent, whereas the scaling relationship within above‐ground organs changed after scaling up from the species to the community level, with the relative change in nutrients being consistently smaller in the more active organs. Synthesis. The pattern of multiple nutrient allocation among organs showed a degree of conservatism across plant functional groups and biomes, with disproportional changes in nutrient content between functionally distinct organs and a lower relative change in more active organs. This conservative strategy implies the existence of general rules that constrain plant nutrient allocation. In this study, we demonstrated the conservative allocation strategy for multiple nutrients among different plant organs under the framework of scaling relationship and stoichiometric homeostasis. This strategy can be divided along three dimensions. First, the partitioning of multiple nutrients among plant organs shows a degree of conservatism across different plant functional groups and biomes. Second, nutrient partitioning between organs with similar function tends to be isometric, whereas that between organs with distinct functions tends to be allometric. Third, the more active an organ, the less its nutrient contents change.

• Publisher: Wiley,Blackwell Publishing Ltd
• Subject: Allometry / Body organs / Community structure / community‐weighted mean traits / conservatism / Ecosystems / Environmental gradient / Forest ecosystems / Forests / Functional groups / homeostasis / Isometric / Mineral nutrients / Nutrient content / nutrient stock / Nutrients / organ activity / Organs / Partitioning / Phosphorus / Plant organs / Plant resources / Plant species / RESEARCH ARTICLE / Scaling / Species / stoichiometry / Terrestrial ecosystems / Tropical forests / Uptake