Optimal carbon storage during drought.

ABSTRACT: Allocation of non-structural carbohydrates to storage allows plants to maintain a carbon pool in anticipation of future stress. However, to do so, plants must forego use of the carbon for growth, creating a trade-off between storage and growth. It is possible that plants actively regulate the storage pool to maximize fitness in a stress-prone environment. Here, we attempt to identify the patterns of growth and storage that would result during drought stress under the hypothesis that plants actively regulate carbon storage. We use optimal control theory to calculate the optimal allocation to storage and utilization of stored carbon over a single drought stress period. We examine two fitness objectives representing alternative life strategies: prioritization of growth and prioritization of s

SUBMITTER: Stefaniak EZ 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC11898659 | biostudies-literature | 2024 Dec

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature