Is the scaling relationship between carbohydrate storage and leaf biomass in meadow plants affected by the disturbance regime?

ABSTRACT:

Background and aims

Below-ground carbohydrate storage is considered an adaptation of plants aimed at regeneration after disturbance. A theoretical model by Iwasa and Kubo was empirically tested which predicted (1) that storage of carbohydrates scales allometrically with leaf biomass and (2) when the disturbance regime is relaxed, the ratio of storage to leaf biomass increases, as carbohydrates are not depleted by disturbance.

Methods

These ideas were tested on nine herbaceous species from a temperate meadow and the disturbance regime was manipulated to create recently abandoned and mown plots. Just before mowing in June and at the end of the season in October, plants with below-ground organs were sampled. The material was used to assess the pool of total non-structural carbo

SUBMITTER: Klimesova J 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC5710675 | biostudies-literature | 2017 Nov

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature