The Scaling Relationship of Below and Above-ground Biomass of Different Grain Crops during the Seedling Stage

Abstract

Seed size was positively correlated with the scaling exponents of MB vs. MA for the 32 genotypes (P<0.05), which means large-seeded species generally had more potential for allocating biomass to roots during the seedling stage. These findings suggest that a uniform isometric relationship exists in grain crop species and that artificial selection in crop species has not changed this relationship. In addition, larger seeds are an evolutionarily-stable strategy based on high grain yield per area.