Shifts in the elemental composition of plants during a very severe drought.

ABSTRACT: Diverse plant functions (e.g. growth, storage, defense and anti-stress mechanisms) use elements disproportionally. We hypothesized that plants growing under different abiotic and biotic conditions would shift their elemental compositions in response to a very severe drought. We tested this hypothesis by investigating the changes in foliar stoichiometry and species composition from a very severe drought. We also tested the effects of previous droughts (acclimation) on this response. Different species growing in the same community responded more similarly to a very severe drought than did individual species growing in different communities. The stoichiometric shifts were thus more community-dependent than species-dependent. The results also suggested that plants grown in monoculture were les

SUBMITTER: Urbina I 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC6485511 | biostudies-literature | 2015 Mar

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature