Complex trait relationships between leaves and absorptive roots: Coordination in tissue N concentration but divergence in morphology

Wang, Ruili; Wang, Qiufeng; Zhao, Ning; Yu, Guirui; He, Nianpeng

doi:10.1002/ece3.2895

Cited by 38 publications

(31 citation statements)

References 48 publications

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“…Interestingly, the pattern found for leaf traits also emerged when considering root traits, as resource‐acquisitive crops (low C and high N concentration in fine roots) were related with higher OF‐effects on SOC sequestration (Figure ). This result and the positive correlation found between N concentration in green leaves and fine roots in our crop species ( r = .54, p = .032) and in other studies (Birouste, Kazakou, Blanchard, & Roumet, ; Wang, Wang, Zhao, Yu, & He, ), suggest that root traits drive soil C responses to OF similarly to leaf traits. Differences in SOC stocks and sequestration rates are larger in farming systems using fast‐growing monocultures (e.g.…”

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 86%

Crop traits drive soil carbon sequestration under organic farming

García‐Palacios

Gattinger

Bracht-Jørgensen

et al. 2018

Journal of Applied Ecology

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Organic farming (OF) enhances top soil organic carbon (SOC) stocks in croplands compared with conventional farming (CF), which can contribute to sequester C. As farming system differences in the amount of C inputs to soil (e.g. fertilization and crop residues) are not enough to explain such increase, shifts in crop residue traits important for soil C losses such as litter decomposition may also play a role. To assess whether crop residue (leaf and root) traits determined SOC sequestration responses to OF, we coupled a global meta‐analysis with field measurements across a European‐wide network of sites. In the meta‐analysis, we related crop species averages of leaf N, leaf‐dry matter content, fine‐root C and N, with SOC stocks and sequestration responses in OF vs. CF. Across six European sites, we measured the management‐induced changes in SOC stocks and leaf litter traits after long‐term ecological intensive (e.g. OF) vs. CF comparisons. Our global meta‐analysis showed that the positive OF‐effects on soil respiration, SOC stocks, and SOC sequestration rates were significant even in organic farms with low manure application rates. Although fertilization intensity was the main driver of OF‐effects on SOC, leaf and root N concentrations also played a significant role. Across the six European sites, changes towards higher leaf litter N in CF also promoted lower SOC stocks. Our results highlight that crop species displaying traits indicative of resource‐acquisitive strategies (e.g. high leaf and root N) increase the difference in SOC between OF and CF. Indeed, changes towards higher crop residue decomposability was related with decreased SOC stocks under CF across European sites. Synthesis and applications. Our study emphasizes that, with management, changes in crop residue traits contribute to the positive effects of organic farming (OF) on soil carbon sequestration. These results provide a clear message to land managers: the choice of crop species, and more importantly their functional traits (e.g. leave and root nitrogen), should be considered in addition to management practices and climate, when evaluating the potential of OF for climate change mitigation.

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Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 86%

Crop traits drive soil carbon sequestration under organic farming

García‐Palacios

Gattinger

Bracht-Jørgensen

et al. 2018

Journal of Applied Ecology

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“…The decoupling between leaf and root morphological traits may be due to the fact that plant nutrient foraging depends largely on mycorrhizal colonization besides absorptive fine roots for nutrient‐limited ecosystems (Valverde‐Barrantes et al, ). Our findings suggested that there may be different integration of morphological and chemical properties between above‐ and belowground organs (Geng et al, ; Wang, Wang, Zhao, Yu, & He, ). Since previous studies found uncertainty in the local‐scale coordination between leaf and fine root traits (Freschet et al, ; Silva et al, ), the coordination of aboveground and belowground traits seemed to be more complex at the local scale.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 71%

Is there coordination of leaf and fine root traits at local scales? A test in temperate forest swamps

Pan

Yang

et al. 2019

Ecology and Evolution

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Examining the coordination of leaf and fine root traits not only aids a better understanding of plant ecological strategies from a whole‐plant perspective, but also helps improve the prediction of belowground properties from aboveground traits. The relationships between leaf and fine root traits have been extensively explored at global and regional scales, but remain unclear at local scales. Here, we measured six pairs of analogous leaf and fine root traits related to resource economy and organ size for coexisting dominant and subordinate vascular plants at three successional stages of temperate forest swamps in Lingfeng National Nature Reserve in the Greater Hinggan Mountains, NE China. Leaf and fine root traits related to resource acquisition (e.g., specific leaf area [SLA], leaf N, leaf P, root water content, and root P) decreased with succession. Overall, we found strong linear relationships between leaf dry matter content (LDMC) and root water content, and between leaf and root C, N, and P concentrations, but only weak correlations were observed between leaf area and root diameter, and between SLA and specific root length (SRL). The strong relationships between LDMC and root water content and between leaf and root C, N, and P held at the early and late stages, but disappeared at the middle stage. Besides, C and P of leaves were significantly correlated with those of roots for woody plants, while strong linkages existed between LDMC and root water content and between leaf N and root N for herbaceous species. These results provided evidence for the existence of strong coordination between leaf and root traits at the local scale. Meanwhile, the leaf–root trait relationships could be modulated by successional stage and growth form, indicating the complexity of coordination of aboveground and belowground traits at the local scale.

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“…Indeed, previous studies have demonstrated that a significant relationship between RN and soil fertility occurred at both the species and community levels (Holdaway et al., ; Kramer‐Walter et al., ). In our previous study, N concentrations of leaves and first‐order roots were positively correlated independent of phylogeny and plant growth forms, whereas morphological traits of above‐ and below‐ground organs varied independently (Wang, Wang, Zhao, Yu et al, ). Taken together, root nutrient might reflect inherent physiological and life‐history trade‐offs across the entire plant.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 86%

“…In addition to heterogeneous environments, large variation in root traits among co‐occurring species might be strongly controlled by the phylogenetic structure of plants (Kong et al., ; Valverde‐Barrantes, Freschet, Roumet, & Blackwood, ; Valverde‐Barrantes, Smemo, & Blackwood, ). High phylogenetic signals of root morphological traits have been detected in woody and herbaceous plant species (Kong et al., ; Valverde‐Barrantes et al., ; Wang, Wang, Zhao, Yu, & He, ). These results indicate that variation in root traits, especially diameter‐related traits, is not random, but is constrained by phylogenetic background (root trait phylogenetic conservatism hypothesis, Valverde‐Barrantes et al., ).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Different phylogenetic and environmental controls of first‐order root morphological and nutrient traits: Evidence of multidimensional root traits

Wang

Zhao

et al. 2017

Functional Ecology

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Abstract1. Although fine roots are essential for the water and nutrient uptake of plants, there is limited understanding of root trait variation and the underlying mechanism.2. Here, six first-order root morphological and chemical traits were measured for 181 species from eight subtropical and boreal forests to test the hypothesis of different phylogenetic and environmental regulations of root morphological and nutrient traits result in the multidimensions of root traits.3. Two independent root trait dimensions between root thickness and nutrient traits were detected at both species and community levels. At the species level, diameterrelated traits were mainly restricted by phylogenetic structure and showed little plasticity to the changing environments, whereas the variation in woody root nutrient was influenced significantly by soil variables. For community-level traits, the diameter-related axis scores of principal component analysis were mainly driven by mean annual temperature through shifting species composition, whereas the root nutrient-related axis scores were strongly influenced by soil P availability.4. From both species and community levels, our study confirms, that the root-thicknessrelated dimension and root nutrient dimension represent new support for the multidimensionality of root traits which are driven by different selection pressure. This study also underlines that the community-aggregated traits might serve as a promising avenue to improve our understanding of community assemblage processes, allowing us to predict changes of vegetation distributions in a changing climate. K E Y W O R D Scommunity-level traits, environmental variables, first-order root, phylogeny, plant growth form, root nutrient, root thickness

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Complex trait relationships between leaves and absorptive roots: Coordination in tissue N concentration but divergence in morphology

Cited by 38 publications

References 48 publications

Crop traits drive soil carbon sequestration under organic farming

Crop traits drive soil carbon sequestration under organic farming

Is there coordination of leaf and fine root traits at local scales? A test in temperate forest swamps

Different phylogenetic and environmental controls of first‐order root morphological and nutrient traits: Evidence of multidimensional root traits

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