Root Branching Is a Leading Root Trait of the Plant Economics Spectrum in Temperate Trees.

ABSTRACT: Global vegetation models use conceived relationships between functional traits to simulate ecosystem responses to environmental change. In this context, the concept of the leaf economics spectrum (LES) suggests coordinated leaf trait variation, and separates species which invest resources into short-lived leaves with a high expected energy return rate from species with longer-lived leaves and slower energy return. While it has been assumed that being fast (acquisitive) or slow (conservative) is a general feature for all organ systems, the translation of the LES into a root economics spectrum (RES) for tree species has been hitherto inconclusive. This may be partly due to the assumption that the bulk of tree fine roots have similar uptake functions as leaves, despite the heterogeneity of th

SUBMITTER: Liese R 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC5340746 | biostudies-literature | 2017

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature