Hurry, Vaughan
- Department of Forest Genetics and Plant Physiology, Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences
Research article2024Peer reviewed
Leaf nonstructural carbohydrate residence time, not concentration, correlates with leaf functional traits following the leaf economic spectrum in woody plants
Asao, Shinichi; Way, Danielle A.; Turnbull, Matthew H.; Stitt, Mark; Mcdowell, Nate G.; Reich, Peter B.; Bloomfield, Keith J.; Zaragoza-Castells, Joana; Creek, Danielle; O'Sullivan, Odhran; Crous, Kristine Y.; Egerton, John J. G.; Mirotchnick, Nicholas; Weerasinghe, Lasantha K.; Griffin, Kevin L.; Hurry, Vaughan; Meir, Patrick; Sitch, Stephen; Atkin, Owen K.
Abstract
Nonstructural carbohydrate (NSC) concentrations might reflect the strategies described in the leaf economic spectrum (LES) due to their dependence on photosynthesis and respiration. We examined if NSC concentrations correlate with leaf structure, chemistry, and physiology traits for 114 species from 19 sites and 5 biomes around the globe. Total leaf NSC concentrations varied greatly from 16 to 199 mg g-1 dry mass and were mostly independent of leaf gas exchange and the LES traits. By contrast, leaf NSC residence time was shorter in species with higher rates of photosynthesis, following the fast-slow strategies in the LES. An average leaf held an amount of NSCs that could sustain one night of leaf respiration and could be replenished in just a few hours of photosynthesis under saturating light, indicating that most daily carbon gain is exported. Our results suggest that NSC export is clearly linked to the economics of return on resource investment.
Keywords
export; leaf economic spectrum; leaf functional traits; nonstructural carbohydrate; residence time
Published in
New Phytologist
2024
Publisher: WILEY
SLU Authors
UKÄ Subject classification
Botany
Publication identifier
- DOI: https://doi.org/10.1111/nph.20315
Permanent link to this page (URI)
https://res.slu.se/id/publ/139876