Does Time since Fire Explain Plant Biomass Allocation in the Florida, USA, Scrub Ecosystem?

Abstract Extreme climate events and nitrogen (N) deposition are increasingly affecting the structure and function of terrestrial ecosystems. However, the response of plant biomass to variations to these global change drivers is still unclear in semi-arid regions, especially in degraded sandy grasslands. In this study, a manipulative field experiment run over two years (from 2017 to 2018) was conducted to examine the effect of rainfall alteration and nitrogen addition on biomass allocation of annuals and perennial plants in Horqin sandy grassland, Northern China. Our experiment simulated extreme rainfall and extreme drought (a 60% reduction or increment in the growing season rainfall with respect to a control background) and N addition (20 g/m2) during the growing seasons. We found that the sufficient rainfall during late July and August compensates for biomass losses caused by insufficient water in May and June. When rainfall distribution is relatively uniform during the growing season, extreme rainfall increased aboveground biomass (AGB) and belowground biomass (BGB) of annuals, while extreme drought reduced AGB and BGB of perennials. Rainfall alteration had no significant impacts on the root-shoot ratio (R/S) of sandy grassland plants, while N addition reduced R/S of grassland species when there was sufficient rainfall in the early growing season. The biomass of annuals was more sensitive to rainfall alteration and nitrogen addition than the biomass of perennials. Our findings emphasize the importance of monthly rainfall distribution patterns during the growing season, which not only directly affect the growth and development of grassland plants, but also affect the nitrogen availability of grassland plants.

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Grazing-induced changes in plant-soil feedback alter plant biomass allocation

Oikos ◽

10.1111/j.1600-0706.2013.01077.x ◽

2014 ◽

Vol 123 (7) ◽

pp. 800-806 ◽

Cited By ~ 26

Author(s):

G. F. Ciska Veen ◽

Saskia de Vries ◽

Elisabeth S. Bakker ◽

Wim H. van der Putten ◽

Han Olff

Keyword(s):

Biomass Allocation ◽

Plant Biomass ◽

Plant Soil ◽

Soil Feedback ◽

Induced Changes

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The Effect of Nutrient Regime on Biomass Allocation and Nutrient Accumulation in Red Oak Seedlings

HortScience ◽

10.21273/hortsci.30.4.859f ◽

1995 ◽

Vol 30 (4) ◽

pp. 859F-859

Author(s):

Jill C. Larimer ◽

Dan Struve

Keyword(s):

Biomass Allocation ◽

Plant Biomass ◽

N Fertilizer ◽

Water Soluble ◽

Fertilizer Treatment ◽

Total N ◽

Whole Plant ◽

Total Plant Biomass ◽

Total Plant ◽

Stems And Leaves

ln Spring 1993, red oaks (Quercus rubra) were propagated from seed. From June through October, plants were fertilized twice daily with 1.4 liters of 20N–10P–20K water-soluble fertilizer solution at concentrations of 0, 25, 50, 100, 200, or 400 ppm N. Destructive harvests were conducted six times at intervals from June through Dec. 1993. Leaf area, stem height, root length, root area, and dry weights of roots, stem, and leaves of harvested plants were measured and tissue nutrient concentrations were analyzed. There was no relationship between whole-plant N concentration and total plant biomass (r = 0). However, there were some linear relationships between total plant N and total plant biomass for an individual fertilizer treatment. Biomass allocation between root, stems, and leaves was very consistent across all fertilizer levels at any one harvest. Percent total N in roots, stems, and leaves also was fairly consistent across fertilizer levels. This was true at each harvest, except the first two, in which a greater percentage of total N was partitioned to the leaves and a smaller percentage was partitioned to the roots in the high (100, 200, 400 ppm N) fertilizer treatments. Whole-plant K concentrations increased with increasing fertilizer level, but decreased over time. Whole-plant P concentrations increased linearly with whole-plant dry weight in the higher (100, 200, 400 ppm N) fertilizer treatments.

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Effects of Combined CO2 and O3 Exposures on Net CO2 Assimilation and Biomass Allocation in Seedlings of the Late-Successional Fagus Crenata

Climate ◽

10.3390/cli7100117 ◽

2019 ◽

Vol 7 (10) ◽

pp. 117 ◽

Cited By ~ 1

Author(s):

Tobita ◽

Komatsu ◽

Harayama ◽

Yazaki ◽

Kitaoka ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Elevated Co2 ◽

Biomass Allocation ◽

Plant Biomass ◽

Leaf Age ◽

Ambient Air ◽

Co2 Assimilation ◽

Fagus Crenata ◽

Elevated O3 ◽

Net Co2 Assimilation ◽

Elevated Co2 And O3

We examined the effects of elevated CO2 and elevated O3 concentrations on net CO2 assimilation and growth of Fagus crenata in a screen-aided free-air concentration-enrichment (FACE) system. Seedlings were exposed to ambient air (control), elevated CO2 (550 µmol mol−1 CO2, +CO2), elevated O3 (double the control, +O3), and the combination of elevated CO2 and O3 (+CO2+O3) for two growing seasons. The responses in light-saturated net CO2 assimilation rates per leaf area (Agrowth-CO2) at each ambient CO2 concentration to the elevated CO2 and/or O3 treatments varied widely with leaf age. In older leaves, Agrowth-CO2 was lower in the presence of +O3 than in untreated controls, but +CO2+O3 treatment had no effect on Agrowth-CO2 compared with the +CO2 treatment. Total plant biomass increased under conditions of elevated CO2 and was largest in the +CO2+O3 treatment. Biomass allocation to roots decreased with elevated CO2 and with elevated O3. Elongation of second-flush shoots also increased in the presence of elevated CO2 and was largest in the +CO2+O3 treatment. Collectively, these results suggest that conditions of elevated CO2 and O3 contribute to enhanced plant growth; reflecting changes in biomass allocation and mitigation of the negative impacts of O3 on net CO2 assimilation.

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Author Correction: Effects of rainfall manipulation and nitrogen addition on plant biomass allocation in a semiarid sandy grassland

Scientific Reports ◽

10.1038/s41598-020-70621-x ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 10 (1) ◽

Author(s):

Jing Zhang ◽

Xiaoan Zuo ◽

Xueyong Zhao ◽

Jianxia Ma ◽

Eduardo Medina-Roldán

Keyword(s):

Biomass Allocation ◽

Plant Biomass ◽

Nitrogen Addition ◽

Sandy Grassland

An amendment to this paper has been published and can be accessed via a link at the top of the paper.

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The role of biomass allocation in the growth response of plants to different levels of light, CO2, nutrients and water: a quantitative review

Functional Plant Biology ◽

10.1071/pp99173 ◽

2000 ◽

Vol 27 (6) ◽

pp. 595 ◽

Cited By ~ 130

Author(s):

Hendrik Poorter ◽

Oscar Nagel

Keyword(s):

Leaf Area ◽

Biomass Allocation ◽

Mass Fraction ◽

Plant Biomass ◽

Growth Parameters ◽

Meta Analysis ◽

Carbon Gain ◽

Leaf Biomass ◽

Functional Equilibrium ◽

Leaf Mass

The allocation of biomass to different plant organs depends on species, ontogeny and on the environment experienced by the plant. In this paper we first discuss some methodological tools to describe and analyse the allocation of biomass. Rather than the use of shoot:root ratios, we plead strongly for a subdivision of biomass into at least three compartments: leaves, stems and roots. Attention is drawn to some of the disadvantages of allometry as a tool to correct for size differences between plants. Second, we tested the extent to which biomass allocation of plants follows the model of a ‘functional equilibrium’. According to this model, plants respond to a decrease in above-ground resources with increased allocation to shoots (leaves), whereas they respond to a decrease in below-ground resources with increased allocation to roots. We carried out a meta-analysis of the literature, analysing the effect of various environmental variables on the fraction of total plant biomass allocated to leaves (leaf mass fraction), stem (stem mass fraction) and roots (root mass fraction). The responses to light, nutrients and water agreed with the (qualitative) prediction of the ‘functional equilibrium’ theory. The notable exception was atmospheric CO2, which did not affect allocation when the concentration was doubled. Third, we analysed the quantitative importance of the changes in allocation compared to changes in other growth parameters, such as unit leaf rate (the net difference between carbon gain and carbon losses per unit time and leaf area), and specific leaf area (leaf area: leaf biomass). The effects of light, CO2 and water on leaf mass fractions were small compared to their effects on relative growth rate. The effects of nutrients, however, were large, suggesting that only in the case of nutrients, biomass allocation is a major factor in the response of plants to limiting resource supply.

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