Nitrogen fixation and fertilization have similar effects on biomass allocation in nitrogen-fixing plants.

ABSTRACT: Plants adjust their allocation to different organs based on nutrient supply. In some plant species, symbioses with nitrogen-fixing bacteria that live in root nodules provide an alternate pathway for nitrogen acquisition. Does access to nitrogen-fixing bacteria modify plants' biomass allocation? We hypothesized that access to nitrogen-fixing bacteria would have the same effect on allocation to aboveground versus belowground tissues as access to plentiful soil nitrogen. To test this hypothesis and related hypotheses about allocation to stems versus leaves and roots versus nodules, we conducted experiments with 15 species of nitrogen-fixing plants in two separate greenhouses. In each, we grew seedlings with and without access to symbiotic bacteria across a wide gradient of soil nitrogen suppl

SUBMITTER: Menge DNL 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC11407827 | biostudies-literature | 2024 Sep

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature