Optimal size of storage for recovery after unpredictable disturbances

Iwasa, Yoh; Kubo, Takuya

doi:10.1023/a:1018483429029

Cited by 220 publications

(211 citation statements)

References 53 publications

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“…Plant organs related to the uptake of limiting resources tend to be larger and more efficient than those that acquire highly available resources (Chapin et al 1987). Therefore, we propose that whereas R+ tend to maximize the surface and the efficiency of the organs for carbon uptake to ensure carbohydrate storage for resprouting (Iwasa and Kubo 1997), Rmaximize the root surface, since their survival and growth may be limited by soil resources. Indeed, the persistence of R-species relies on seedling recruitment and fast growth for reaching maturation (to refill the seed bank before the next fire), and thus are strongly dependent of soil water and nutrients.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Root traits explain different foraging strategies between resprouting life histories

Paula

Pausas

2010

Oecologia

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Drought and fire are prevalent disturbances in Mediterranean ecosystems. Plant species able to regrow after severe disturbances (i.e. resprouter life history) have higher allocation to roots and higher water potential during the dry season than coexisting non-resprouting species. However, seedlings of non-resprouters have higher survival rate after summer drought. We predict that, to counteract their shallow-rooting systems and to maximize seedling survival, non-resprouters have root traits that confer higher efficiency in soil resource acquisition than resprouters. We tested this prediction in seedlings of less than 1.5 months old. We select 13 coexisting woody species (including both resprouters and non-resprouters), grew them in common garden and measured the following root traits: length, surface, average diameter, root tissue density (RTD), specific root length (SRL), surface:volume ratio (SVR), specific tip density (STD), tip distribution in depth, internal links ratio (ILR) and degree of branching. These root traits were compared between the two resprouting life histories using both standard cross-species and phylogenetic-informed analysis. Non-resprouters showed higher SRL and longer, thinner and more branched laterals, especially in the upper soil layers. The abundance, total length, diameter and SVR of external links (i.e. the most absorptive root region) were also higher for non-resprouters. The results were supported by the phylogenetic-informed analysis for the root traits most strongly related to soil resource acquisition (SRL, SVR and branching pattern). The seedling root structure of non-resprouters species allows them to explore more efficiently the upper soil layer, whereas seedling roots of resprouters will permit both carbon storage and deep soil penetration.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Root traits explain different foraging strategies between resprouting life histories

Paula

Pausas

2010

Oecologia

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“…Iwasa and Kubo (1997) used an allocation model to decipher the optimal size of belowground storage for plants in environments subjected to unpredictable aerial disturbance. They assumed that plants adopted the lifestyle with the greatest lifetime reproductive success.…”

Section: Feasibility Of Maintaining Large Storage Reservesmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The ratio of resources in storage pools to the resources allocated to production organs increased as the plant approached maximal size, and also increased with the harshness of the environment. That is, plants in an environment with low productivity and with frequent, severe disturbances, will allocate a large proportion of resources to long-term storage (Iwasa and Kubo 1997).…”

Section: Feasibility Of Maintaining Large Storage Reservesmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Physically protected belowground structures afford plants a mechanism for rapid post-disturbance regeneration that is not severely constrained by initially low photosynthetic capacities. Systems that are prone to greater frequency or intensity of defoliation generally contain dominant plant species that are more reliant on belowground C reserves (Iwasa and Kubo 1997).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Extensive belowground carbon storage supports roots and mycorrhizae in regenerating scrub oaks

2002

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Portions of a regenerating scrub oak ecosystem were enclosed in open-top chambers and exposed to elevated C0 2 . The distinct 13 C signal of the supplemental C0 2 was used to trace the rate of C integration into various ecosystem components. Oak foliage, stems, roots and ectomycorrhizae were sampled over 3 years and were analyzed for 13 C composition. The aboveground tissue 13 C equilibrated to the novel 13 C signal in the first season, while the belowground components displayed extremely slow integration of the new C. Roots taken from ingrowth cores showed that 33% of the C in newly formed roots originated from a source other than recent photosynthesis inside the chamber. In this highly fireprone system, the oaks re-establish primarily by resprouting from large rhizomes, demobilization from belowground C stores may support fine roots and mycorrhizae for several years into stand re-establishment and, therefore, may explain why belowground tissues contain less of the new photosynthate than expected. Though it has been shown that long-term cycles of C storage are theoretically advantageous for plants in systems with frequent and severe disturbances, such patterns have not been previously examined in wild systems.

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“…For instance, the root biomass left after a stem is felled in a clonal tree can be partially maintained by connected stems for several years, as has been shown in Populus tremuloides (DesRochers and Lieffers 2001;Jelínková et al 2009). Therefore, an increasing disequilibrium may arise over time if the foliage that develops after repeated coppicing barely compensates for the disproportionately large amount of carbon consumed by the intact coarse root system (Iwasa and Kubo 1997;Landhäusser and Lieffers 2002). The general stagnation in growth observed worldwide in many overaged coppices after abandonment could be related to the high demand for carbohydrates by the root system, which draws resources from aboveground tree parts that would otherwise be used for stem growth and seed yield.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Xylem and soil CO2 fluxes in a Quercus pyrenaica Willd. coppice: root respiration increases with clonal size

Salomón

Valbuena‐Carabaña

Rodríguez‐Calcerrada

et al. 2015

Annals of Forest Science

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Optimal size of storage for recovery after unpredictable disturbances

Cited by 220 publications

References 53 publications

Root traits explain different foraging strategies between resprouting life histories

Root traits explain different foraging strategies between resprouting life histories

Extensive belowground carbon storage supports roots and mycorrhizae in regenerating scrub oaks

Xylem and soil CO2 fluxes in a Quercus pyrenaica Willd. coppice: root respiration increases with clonal size

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