Warming effects on biomass allocation are jointly regulated by precipitation and mycorrhizal association in terrestrial plants

Author(s):  
Xuhui Zhou ◽  
Lingyan Zhou ◽  
Yanghui He ◽  
Yuling Fu ◽  
Zhenggang Du ◽  
...  

Abstract Biomass allocation in plants is fundamental for understanding and predicting terrestrial carbon storage. Recent studies suggest that climate warming can differentially affect root and shoot biomass, and subsequently alter root: shoot ratio. However, warming effects on root: shoot ratio and their underlying drivers at a global scale remain unclear. Using a global synthesis of >300 studies, we here show that warming significantly increases biomass allocation to roots (by 13.1%), and two factors drive this response: mean annual precipitation of the site, and the type of mycorrhizal fungi associated with a plant. Warming-induced allocation to roots is greater in relatively drier habitats compared to shoots (by 15.1%), but lower in wetter sites (by 4.9%), especially for plants associated with arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi compared to ectomycorrhizal fungi. Root-biomass responses to warming predominantly determine the biomass allocation in terrestrial plants suggesting that warming can reinforce the importance of belowground resource uptake. Our study highlights that the wetness or dryness of a site and plants’ mycorrhizal associations strongly regulate terrestrial carbon cycle by altering biomass allocation strategies in a warmer world.

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Haoqiang Zhang ◽  
Wei Ren ◽  
Yaru Zheng ◽  
Fei Zhao ◽  
Ming Tang

Abstract Aims Arbuscular mycorrhizal (AM) fungi form symbiosis with terrestrial plants and improve lead (Pb) tolerance of host plants. The AM plants accumulate more Pb in root than their non-mycorrhizal counterparts. However, the direct contribution of the mycorrhizal pathway to host plant Pb uptake was less reported. Methods In this study, the AM fungi colonized and non-colonized root of Medicago truncatula was separated by a split-root system, and their differences in responding to Pb application was compared. Results Inoculation of Rhizophagus irregularis increased shoot biomass accumulation and transpiration, and decreased both colonized and non-colonized root biomass accumulation. Application of Pb in the non-colonized root compartment increased the colonization rate of R. irregularis and up-regulated the relative expressions of MtPT4 and MtBCP1 in the colonized root compartment. Inoculation of R. irregularis increased the Pb uptake in both colonized and non-colonized plant root, while R. irregularis transferred Pb to the colonized root. The Pb transferred through the mycorrhizal pathway had low mobility move from root to shoot, and might be sequestrated and compartmented by R. irregularis. Conclusions The Pb uptake of plant root might follow water flow that facilitated by the aquaporin MtPIP2. The quantification of Pb transfer via mycorrhizal pathway and the involvement of MtPIP2 deserve further study.


2017 ◽  
Vol 9 (1) ◽  
pp. 502-507 ◽  
Author(s):  
Parvaze A. Sofi ◽  
Iram Saba ◽  
Zakir Amin

The present study was aimed at assessing the root traits and rhizobial inoculation in relation to drought in common bean, Phaseolus vulgaris. Drought caused the largest decrease in shoot biomass followed by plant height, while an increase was recorded inroot/shoot ratio. Rhizobial inoculation caused largest increase in shoot biomass followed by root volume and root biomass and smallest increase in rooting depth. WB-216 and WB-185 had better rooting depth in all treatments. However, WB-83 (92.67) had highest rooting depth under irrigated conditions and SR-1 had highest rooting depth under irrigated conditions treated with rhizobium (108.50). Similarly, WB-216 had highest root/shoot ratio under drought (2.693) followed by WB-185 (1.285) while lowest value was recorded for Arka Anoop (0.373). In rhizobium treated drought condition, WB-216 recorded highest root/shoot ratio (5.540) followed by SFB-1 (1.967). Under irrigated conditions (both with and without rhizobium), WB-185 recorded highest root/shoot ratio while lowest was recorded for SR-1 (0.166). The mean squares due to root depth, root biomass and root volume were significant whereas the mean squares due to water and rhizobium were non-significant. Among interactions the genotype x water regime was significant for rooting depth (5 % level), genotype x rhizobia was significant for rooting depth and root volume (1 % level) and the interaction of genotype x water regime x rhizobium was significant for rooting depth, root biomass and root volume (1 % level). The results reinforce the need to further analyse the potential of other soil microbes in common bean rhizosphere in amelioration of the effects of water stress.


2004 ◽  
Vol 82 (4) ◽  
pp. 443-449 ◽  
Author(s):  
Anna Liisa Ruotsalainen ◽  
Sami Aikio

We studied the competition between mycorrhiza-forming Trientalis europaea L. and nonmycorrhizal Carex bigelowii Torrey ex Schweinitz in a climate chamber experiment. The plants were grown either singly or together with a conspecific or heterospecific individual, with arbuscular mycorrhizal inoculum present or absent. Inoculated T. euro paea formed abundant arbuscular mycorrhizal structures, but the mycorrhizae did not affect its biomass or the whole plant's relative growth rate (RGR). Carex bigelowii did not form mycorrhizae, but its shoot biomass and RGR were lower in the inoculated pots. The presence of a conspecific or heterospecific plant had no effect on the shoot biomasses or RGR of either plant species. Mycorrhizal inoculation increased the root/shoot ratio of C. bigelowii in all competition treatments. The presence of C. bigelowii decreased the root/shoot ratio of T. europaea in both mycorrhizal and nonmy corrhizal state. Mycorrhizal inoculum thus had a direct negative effect on the growth of a nonmycorrhizal plant. The result suggests that although mycorrhizae may not always directly affect the performance of the host plant, they may possibly increase the host plant performance in relation to nonmycorrhizal neighbours. Mycorrhizal inoculum and mycorrhizal symbiosis may increase asymmetry of interspecific competition, which may facilitate the coexistence of plant species in cases when a larger individual is more negatively affected.Key words: arbuscular mycorrhiza, competitive asymmetry, micropropagation.


Author(s):  
Seidu Iddrisu Bawa ◽  
Charles Quansah ◽  
Henry Oppong Tuffour ◽  
Awudu Abubakari ◽  
Caleb Melenya

Two factorial pot experiments arranged in a Completely Randomised Design (CRD) with three replications were carried out to assess the impact of different levels of soil compaction and fertilizer amendments on root growth and biomass yield of maize (Zea mays L.) and soybean (Glycine max L.) plants. The treatments were different rates of bulk densities – 1.3, 1.5 and 1.7 Mg m-3 and fertilizer amendments comprising 100% poultry manure (applied at 15 g/plant), 100% 15:15:15 NPK fertilizer (applied at 2.89 g/plant) and 50% rate each of poultry manure and NPK fertilizer (applied at 7.5 g poultry manure + 1.45 g NPK/plant), and control (no fertilizer amendments). Soil compaction reduced the heights of maize and soybean plants. Increasing soil compaction resulted in the accumulation of most of the root biomass in the uncompacted soil above the compacted layer. Application of soil amendments increased the relative root biomass of maize plants in the uncompacted soil, while that in the compacted soil was reduced. In the case of soybean plants, although the relative root biomass in the uncompacted soil was relatively greater than that of maize plants, application of soil amendments tended to slightly decrease the relative root biomass to that of the control. The shoot biomass of both crops decreased with increasing soil bulk density. All the applied soil amendments significantly increased the shoot biomass of maize and soybean plants over the control. The magnitude of response of the crops to the soil amendments was greater in soybean than in maize plants. Soil compaction and amendments significantly influenced root/shoot ratio of both crops. The root/shoot ratio decreased with increasing compaction from 1.3 to 1.5 Mg m-3, however, at 1.7 Mg m-3, the root/shoot ratio increased. The fertilizer amendments significantly influenced the root/shoot ratio of maize but not soybean plants. The fertilizer amendments increased the biomass of both roots and shoots, being higher in the former than in the latter. The fertilizer amendments x compaction interactions showed that the root/shoot ratio was influenced by the type of crop, and the confounding effects of factor interactions on the relative increases/decreases in shoot and root growth. Overall, soil compaction accounted for 52 to 100% of the variations in the magnitude of the measured parameters of maize plants, and 62 to 98% for soybean plants. The ideal bulk density for shoot biomass production of both crops should, therefore, be within the range of 1.3 – 1.5 Mg m-3. At soil bulk density of 1.5 Mg m-3 and above, soil amendment should be added to ameliorate the negative impact of soil compaction.


2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Feng-Feng Kang ◽  
Ai-Hua Yu ◽  
Mingchun Guo ◽  
Qi Wang ◽  
Ze-Ping Jiang ◽  
...  

Abstract Background: Forest ecosystems play a crucial role in global carbon cycle. Identifying bio- or abio- drivers on forest biomass allocation pattern could improve our understanding in forest carbon sink, stock and cycle across various spatio-temporal scales. Through compiling a dataset (n=1931) of the root-shoot ratio from previous studies, here we implemented the Random Forest algorithm (RF) to elucidate main driven factors on the root-shoot ratio across China forest ecosystems. Results: (1) Forest age and forest density were both contributed mostly to root-shoot ratio variations regardless of forest origins (natural or planted forests). The relative important values (% increase in MSE) for forest density and forest age on the root-shoot ratio were 54.42% and 51.05% in the natural forests, and 74.61% and 117.27% in the planted forests, respectively; (2) Compared to soil variables (soil texture and nutrient status), climatic variables (temperature and precipitation) showed stronger effects on the root-shoot ratio; (3) Partial dependent analysis further demonstrated that root-shoot ratio initially decreased with forest age, but afterwards increased to a relative stable level (the turning point, e.g., ca. 150 yr for natural forests and ca.30 yr for planted forests); (4)The root-shoot ratio increased nonlinearly with an increase of forest density in both forest types. Forest density and precipitation seasonality exerted positively direct effects, while forest age together with temperature seasonality, mean temperature of wettest quarter and precipitation of warmest quarter had negatively effects on the root-shoot ratio of two forest types. Conclusions: The forest age, forest density and climate seasonality contributed mostly to variations of root-shoot ratios in China forest ecosystems. These results would improve our understanding of environmental drivers on forest biomass allocation over a large spatial scale, and to some extent provide a generally practical significance in forest management (e.g., time for timber harvest), although species-specific root-shoot ratio associated with ontogeny should be further investigated in the future.


2011 ◽  
Vol 62 (5) ◽  
pp. 367 ◽  
Author(s):  
P. R. Ward ◽  
J. A. Palta ◽  
H. A. Waddell

Perennial plants such as lucerne are now widely acknowledged as one means of controlling the expansion of dryland salinity in southern Australia. However, their inclusion in farming systems is limited by poor seedling vigour, thought to be associated with greater allocation of biomass to perennating organs in roots, and poor adaptation to some soils and climatic conditions in south-western Australia. For this reason, interest in other perennial options such as perennial wheat is increasing. In this research we compared early (29-day) seedling growth and root : shoot ratios for annual and perennial medics (Medicago truncatula and M. sativa), and for annual and perennial wheat (Triticum aestivum and Triticum × Agropyron cross). For the medics, the annual reached the 6-leaf stage after 29 days and produced more root and shoot biomass than lucerne (4-leaf stage after 29 days), but there was no difference in root : shoot ratio or depth of root growth. For wheat, there were no differences in root growth, shoot growth, or root : shoot ratio between the annual and perennial lines (Zadoks growth stages 23 and 21, respectively, after 29 days). The poor competitive performance of M. sativa seedlings relative to M. truncatula was not due to changed allocation of biomass to shoots, but was related more to seed size (2.7 and 5.0 mg, respectively). This does not seem to occur to the same extent in perennial wheat lines, suggesting that their seedling performance may be more competitive.


2010 ◽  
Vol 6 (6) ◽  
pp. 811-814 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ming Nie ◽  
Qiang Yang ◽  
Li-Fen Jiang ◽  
Chang-Ming Fang ◽  
Jia-Kuan Chen ◽  
...  

Biomass allocation is an important plant trait that responds plastically to environmental heterogeneities. However, the effects on this trait of pollutants owing to human activities remain largely unknown. In this study, we investigated the response of biomass allocation of Phragmites australis to petroleum pollution by a 13 CO 2 pulse-labelling technique. Our data show that plant biomass significantly decreased under petroleum pollution, but the root–shoot ratio for both plant biomass and 13 C increased with increasing petroleum concentration, suggesting that plants could increase biomass allocation to roots in petroleum-polluted soil. Furthermore, assimilated 13 C was found to be significantly higher in soil, microbial biomass and soil respiration after soils were polluted by petroleum. These results suggested that the carbon released from roots is rapidly turned over by soil microbes under petroleum pollution. This study found that plants can modulate biomass allocation in response to petroleum pollution.


HortScience ◽  
2002 ◽  
Vol 37 (6) ◽  
pp. 890-893 ◽  
Author(s):  
Terence R. Bates ◽  
Richard M. Dunst ◽  
Theodore Taft ◽  
Michael Vercant

One- and 2-year-old 'Concord' (Vitis labruscana L.) grapevines were used to study the effect of soil pH on vegetative growth and nutrition. Ninety-eight, own-rooted, 'Concord' grapevines were planted in 94.6-L pots containing vineyard soil adjusted to seven soil pH levels ranging from 3.5 to 7.5. After the first growing season, seven vines from each soil pH treatment were randomly selected, destructively harvested, and measured for root and shoot growth. The remaining 49 vines over-wintered in the pots, were defruited in year two, and were destructively harvested at the end of the second growing season. There was a reduction in root biomass below soil pH of 4.5 and a greater reduction in shoot biomass leading to a higher root: shoot ratio. There were no significant differences in vegetative growth of young 'Concord' vines from a soil pH of 5.0-7.5. However, there was a trend toward lower shoot biomass and higher root: shoot ratio at the highest soil pH level. Phylloxera nodosities on roots were present in equal densities at all soil pH values. However, the negative impact of phylloxera on vine dry mass was greater on vines under nutrient stress at the highest and lowest pH treatments than on those with adequate nutrition at the mid-range soil pH values.


1997 ◽  
Vol 24 (5) ◽  
pp. 637 ◽  
Author(s):  
M. Cui ◽  
M. M. Caldwell

Plant growth and nitrate uptake were measured for two Great Basin perennial grasses, Agropyron desertorum and Pseudoroegneria spicata, in sand-filled pots in either monoculture or mixed culture (2 plants/pot). All plants were supplied with the same initial amount of nitrate but delivered in five different pulse durations ranging from 0.5 to 72 h. The pulse duration was controlled by flushing the pots with water at different times after applying the nitrate pulse. The same concentration of nitrate was used in all pulse treatments. Increasing the pulse duration led to significantly increased plant biomass production for both species in both mono- and mixed cultures, and to reduced root/shoot biomass ratio. Biomass and root/shoot ratio were greater for Agropyron in mixed culture than in monoculture. To assess root nitrate uptake capacity, a 30-min tracer pulse was applied to all plants. Plants that had been exposed to longer pulses acquired significantly more nitrate than those that had been exposed to shorter pulses for both total plant acquisition and acquisition per unit root length. With greater root/shoot ratio than Pseudoroegneria, total nitrate acquisition by Agropyron was significantly greater at most pulse durations. Root nitrate uptake per unit mass was also greater for Agropyron than for Pseudoroegneria, indicating that Agropyron is more responsive to nitrate pulsing.


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