No evidence of carbon limitation with tree age and height in Nothofagus pumilio under Mediterranean and temperate climate conditions

Piper, Frida I.; Fajardo, Alex

doi:10.1093/aob/mcr195

Cited by 30 publications

(23 citation statements)

References 60 publications

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“…However, as frost may occur year‐round at temperate treelines and the trees were sampled towards the end of the growing season (when trees should be prepared for frosts), the starch accumulation found in the current study seems to be more a consequence of the increase in carbon reserves following the stronger limitation of growth processes than the consequence of carbon gain. Increased carbon reserve concentrations have been proposed to indicate the increased carbon source–sink imbalance not only at treeline, but also under other environmental stresses that directly limit growth, for example, water limitations associated with ontogeny (Piper & Fajardo, 2011), or drought (Sala et al. , 2010; Muller et al.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Variation of mobile carbon reserves in trees at the alpine treeline ecotone is under environmental control

et al. 2012

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Summary In low temperature‐adapted plants, including treeline trees, light‐saturated photosynthesis is considerably less sensitive to temperature than growth. As a consequence, all plants tested so far show increased nonstructural carbohydrate (NSC) tissue concentrations when exposed to low temperatures. Reduced carbon supply is thus an unlikely cause for low temperature range limits of plants. For altitudinal treeline trees there is, however, a possibility that high NSC genotypes have been selected. Here, we explored this possibility using afforestations with single‐provenance conifers along elevational gradients in the Southern Chilean Andes and the Swiss Alps. Tree growth was measured at each of four approximately equidistant elevations at and below the treeline. Additionally, at the same elevations, needle, branch and stem sapwood tissues were collected to determine NSC concentrations. Overall, growth decreased and NSC concentrations increased with elevation. Along with previous empirical and experimental studies, the findings of this study provide no indication of NSC reduction at the treeline; NSC increased in most species (each represented by one common population) towards their upper climatic limit. The disparity between carbon acquisition and structural carbon investment at low temperature (accumulation of NSC) thus does occur even among genotypes not adapted to treeline environments.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Variation of mobile carbon reserves in trees at the alpine treeline ecotone is under environmental control

et al. 2012

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“…It is acknowledged that NSC indicates the C source-sink balance within the plant body and is sensitive to environmental conditions, e.g. NSC changes under water limitations associated with ontogeny (Piper and Fajardo 2011) and drought (Sala et al 2010;Muller et al 2011;Piper 2011;Fajardo et al 2012;Galvez et al 2013;Dickman et al 2014). In addition to the well-known environmental control of plant NSC, it has been long recognized that NSC concentration varies not only among plant functional types (growth forms) but also among species within functional types and within a same family and genus (Kozlowski 1992;Magel et al 2000;Newell et al 2002;Würth et al 2005;Hoch 2007;Poorter et al 2010;Zhang et al 2014).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Geographic pattern and effects of climate and taxonomy on nonstructural carbohydrates of Artemisia species and their close relatives across northern China

et al. 2015

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Nonstructural carbohydrates (NSCs) are the primary products of photosynthesis and have implications for determining the carbon (C) limitation under current environmental conditions and the impact of climate change on the C balance in ecosystems. Yet, heretofore little was known about how climate and taxonomy affect NSC at the regional or global scale. We explored geographic patterns and effects of climate and taxonomy on the NSC in the aboveground organs of Artemisia species and their close relatives from 65 sites across northern China. Hierarchical linear models (HLMs) showed that sugar concentration decreased with increasing altitude and that the response of NSC to the altitudinal gradient differed among species. NSC concentration was affected by climate of the warmest quarter rather than annual climate. Sugar and starch concentrations differed significantly among species. Within the NSC C pool, species identity explained more of the total variance of sugar C than that of starch C. Our results show that the NSC pattern at a large geographical scale differs from that at the local scale. As a temporary storage of C, NSCs appear to be a direct product of the photosynthetic process rather than to function as protectants against environmental stresses during the growing season at the regional scale. Therefore, different species, even among closely related taxa, may vary in their adaptation to environmental gradients via the physiological adjustment of NSCs at the regional scale.

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“…Our results resolve conflicting assumptions about the nature of tree growth, inform efforts to undertand and model forest carbon dynamics, and have additional implications for theories of resource allocation 11 and plant senescence 12 . A widely held assumption is that after an initial period of increasing growth, the mass growth rate of individual trees declines with increasing tree size 4,5,[13][14][15][16] . Although the results of a few single-species studies have been consistent with this assumption 15 , the bulk of evidence cited in support of declining growth is not based on measurements of individual tree mass growth.…”

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confidence: 99%

“…A widely held assumption is that after an initial period of increasing growth, the mass growth rate of individual trees declines with increasing tree size 4,5,[13][14][15][16] . Although the results of a few single-species studies have been consistent with this assumption 15 , the bulk of evidence cited in support of declining growth is not based on measurements of individual tree mass growth. Instead, much of the cited evidence documents either the well-known age-related decline in net primary productivity (hereafter 'productivity') of even-aged forest stands 10 (in which the trees are all of a similar age) or size-related declines in the rate of mass gain per unit leaf area (or unit leaf mass) [8][9][10] , with the implicit assumption that declines at these scales must also apply at the scale of the individual tree.…”

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confidence: 99%

Rate of tree carbon accumulation increases continuously with tree size

Stephenson

Das

Condit

et al. 2014

Nature

748

486

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After more than a century of research the typical growth pattern of a tree was thought to be fairly well understood. Following germination height growth accelerates for some time, then increment peaks and the added height each year becomes less and less. The cross sectional area (basal area) of the tree follows a similar pattern, but the maximum basal area increment occurs at some time after the maximum height increment. An increase in basal area in a tall tree will add more volume to the stem than the same increase in a short tree, so the increment in stem volume (or mass) peaks very late. Stephenson et al. challenge this paradigm, and suggest that mass increment increases continuously. Their analysis methods however are a textbook example of the 'ecological fallacy', and their conclusions therefore unsupported.

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No evidence of carbon limitation with tree age and height in Nothofagus pumilio under Mediterranean and temperate climate conditions

Abstract: The results indicate that concentrations of C storage in N. pumilio trees do not decrease with tree age or height, and that reduced C assimilation due to summer drought does not alter this pattern.

Cited by 30 publications

References 60 publications

Variation of mobile carbon reserves in trees at the alpine treeline ecotone is under environmental control

Variation of mobile carbon reserves in trees at the alpine treeline ecotone is under environmental control

Geographic pattern and effects of climate and taxonomy on nonstructural carbohydrates of Artemisia species and their close relatives across northern China

Rate of tree carbon accumulation increases continuously with tree size

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