Carbon allocation to growth and storage depends on elevation provenance in an herbaceous alpine plant of Mediterranean climate

Reyes-Bahamonde, Claudia; Piper, Frida I.; Cavieres, Lohengrin A.

doi:10.1007/s00442-020-04839-x

Cited by 11 publications

(7 citation statements)

References 55 publications

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“…This conversion from starch to sugar can decrease plants' osmotic potentials to maintain cell turgor during drought (Blum, 2017; Guo et al, 2020). While the role of soluble sugars in osmoregulation is well known in plants, it is unclear if plants from drier environments can allocate more carbon to storage or maintain higher levels of soluble sugars for this purpose, as the few studies on this topic have produced mixed results (Blumstein et al, 2020; Piper et al, 2017; Reyes‐Bahamonde et al, 2021). Thus it has been hypothesized that plants that have evolved in or are grown in drier environments will maintain higher stores and a greater fraction of their stores as soluble sugars so as to decrease the water potential at which turgor loss occurs and live longer under drought (Bartlett et al, 2012; Dickman et al, 2019; O'Brien et al, 2014, 2017).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Similar to the case of drought, NSC stores are also known to serve as osmolytes that protect plant tissues from freezing in winter by lowering the freezing temperature of water (Thalmann & Santelia, 2017; Thomashow, 1999). Thus, plants living in colder environments are hypothesized to, either plastically or heritably, invest more in total NSC storage and/or maintain a higher fraction of those stores as soluble sugars than plants growing in more moderate climates (e.g., Chapin et al, 1990; Reyes‐Bahamonde et al, 2021). Most studies examining NSC concentrations in reference to freezing temperatures have examined altitudinal clines.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

mentioning

confidence: 99%

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Global variation in nonstructural carbohydrate stores in response to climate

Blumstein

Gersony

Vilalta

et al. 2023

Global Change Biology

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Woody plant species store nonstructural carbohydrates (NSCs) for many functions. While known to buffer against fluctuations in photosynthetic supply, such as at night, NSC stores are also thought to buffer against environmental extremes, such as drought or freezing temperatures by serving as either back‐up energy reserves or osmolytes. However, a clear picture of how NSCs are shaped by climate is still lacking. Here, we update and leverage a unique global database of seasonal NSC storage measurements to examine whether maximum total NSC stores and the amount of soluble sugars are associated with clinal patterns in low temperatures or aridity, indicating they may confer a benefit under freezing or drought conditions. We examine patterns using the average climate at each study site and the unique climatic conditions at the time and place in which the sample was taken. Altogether, our results support the idea that NSC stores act as critical osmolytes. Soluble Sugars increase with both colder and drier conditions in aboveground tissues, indicating they can plastically increase a plants' tolerance of cold or arid conditions. However, maximum total NSCs increased, rather than decreased, with average site temperature and had no relationship to average site aridity. This result suggests that the total amount of NSC a plant stores may be more strongly determined by its capacity to assimilate carbon than by environmental stress. Thus, NSCs are unlikely to serve as reservoir of energy. This study is the most comprehensive synthesis to date of global NSC variation in relation to climate and supports the idea that NSC stores likely serve as buffers against environmental stress. By clarifying their role in cold and drought tolerance, we improve our ability to predict plant response to environment.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

mentioning

confidence: 99%

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Global variation in nonstructural carbohydrate stores in response to climate

Blumstein

Gersony

Vilalta

et al. 2023

Global Change Biology

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“…It has been shown that both growth and storage are under selection and compete with one another (Blumstein et al, 2022). Allocation to storage has also sometimes proven to have priority over allocation to growth (Reyes‐Bahamonde et al, 2021). The advantages of NSCs for plant survival under stress conditions might be related to the presence of starch as a safeguard (metabolic role), but also to osmoregulation (Martínez‐Vilalta et al, 2016), provided that both NSCs and SSs promote the maintenance of turgor and hydraulic conductivity (Sapes et al, 2021; Sevanto et al, 2014; Tomasella et al, 2021).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Nonstructural carbohydrates predict survival in saplings of temperate trees under carbon stress

2022

Self Cite

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1. Nonstructural carbohydrates (NSCs) mediate plant survival when the plant's carbon (C) balance is negative, suggesting that NSCs could predict plant survival under C stress. To examine this possibility, we exposed saplings of six temperate tree species to diverse levels of C stress created by the combination of two light conditions (full light availability and deep shade) and two defoliation levels (severe defoliation and nondefoliation). We then measured survival, biomass and total NSCs and soluble sugars (SSs) concentrations in different organs of both dead and live saplings.2. We estimated mean NSCs and SSs contents and concentrations per sapling and fitted logistic generalized mixed-effects models to determine if NSCs and SSs predict survival. Using inverse prediction modelling, we also determined whether there is a common NSCs and SSs threshold across species at the time of sapling's death. 3. Defoliation and shade reduced the mean sapling's NSCs and SSs contents, indicating C stress. Mean sapling NSCs and SSs contents and concentrations predicted survival and the robustness of the models improved with the inclusion of species. At death, saplings of the exotic deciduous tree species Acer pseudoplatanus exhibited significantly lower mean NSCs and SSs contents than saplings of the evergreen conifer species Podocarpus nubigenus and lower stem NSCs and SSs concentrations than the broadleaf evergreen species Drimys winteri. 4. The energetic role that NSCs and SSs play in plants under C stress was evidenced by the capacity of these compounds to predict sapling survival under C stress. No common threshold of NSCs and SSs contents or concentrations for sapling survival amongst species was found, indicating that the level of these compounds may not be good proxies for interspecific comparisons of tolerance to C stress. Presumably, there are species-specific limits for the mobilization and use of NSCs and SSs in metabolism. 5. Our results anticipate that the inclusion of NSCs and SSs in modelling will improve predictions regarding tree responses to ongoing climate change.

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“…Recent evidence on a limited number of species, seedlings, or woody organs has suggested the existence of a growth-storage trade-off within and among species (O'Brien et al, 2014;Blumstein et al, 2022;Signori-M€ uller et al, 2022). Allocation to storage could be prioritized over growth under severe C-limited conditions (Weber et al, 2018;Reyes-Bahamonde et al, 2021).…”

Section: Contrasting Coordination Of Nsc With Economic Strategies In ...mentioning

confidence: 99%

Contrasting coordination of non‐structural carbohydrates with leaf and root economic strategies of alpine coniferous forests

Zhang,

Ding,

Wang

et al. 2024

New Phytologist

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Summary Non‐structural carbohydrates (NSCs), as the labile fraction and dominant carbon currency, are essential mediators of plant adaptation to environments. However, whether and how NSC coordinates with plant economic strategy frameworks, particularly the well‐recognized leaf economics spectrums (LES) and root economics space (RES), remains unclear. We examined the relationships between NSC and key plant economics traits in leaves and fine roots across 90 alpine coniferous populations on the Tibetan Plateau, China. We observed contrasting coordination of NSC with economics traits in leaves and roots. Leaf total NSC and soluble sugar aligned with the leaf economic spectrum, conveying a trade‐off between growth and storage in leaves. However, NSC in roots was independent of the root economic spectrum, but highly coordinated with root foraging, with more starch and less sugar in forage‐efficient, thinner roots. Further, NSC‐trait coordination in leaves and roots was, respectively, driven by local temperature and precipitation. These findings highlight distinct roles of NSC in shaping the above‐ and belowground multidimensional economics trait space, and NSC‐based carbon economics provides a mechanistic understanding of how plants adapt to heterogeneous habitats and respond to environmental changes.

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Carbon allocation to growth and storage depends on elevation provenance in an herbaceous alpine plant of Mediterranean climate

Cited by 11 publications

References 55 publications

Global variation in nonstructural carbohydrate stores in response to climate

Global variation in nonstructural carbohydrate stores in response to climate

Nonstructural carbohydrates predict survival in saplings of temperate trees under carbon stress

Contrasting coordination of non‐structural carbohydrates with leaf and root economic strategies of alpine coniferous forests

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