Abstract
Background and Aims
Roots express morphological and physiological plasticity that may be adaptations for efficient nutrient capture when soil nutrients are heterogeneous in space and time. In terms of nutrient capture per unit of carbon invested in roots, morphological plasticity should be more advantageous when nutrient patches are stable in time, and physiological plasticity when nutrients are variable in time.
Methods
Here we examined both traits in two Pinus species, two Liquidambar species, two Solidago species, Ailanthus altissima and Callistephus chinesis, grown in pots where the same total level of nutrient addition was provided in a factorial experiment with different levels of spatial and temporal variability.
Results
Total plant root growth, Root/Shoot ratios and morphological plasticity were less when nutrients were temporally variable instead of stable. Physiological plasticity was more variable than morphological across treatments and species and was not predictably greater when nutrient supply was pulsed instead of constant. Large variability, especially in physiological plasticity, was observed, and physiological plasticity was greater in non-woody than in woody species.
Conclusions
Our results suggest that the two traits differ in environmental factors that control their expression, and that the nature of nutrient patchiness may have more direct impact on the evolution of morphological than physiological plasticity.
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Notes
We dripped the dyed 15N solution on a Whatman 42 filter paper and noted that the dye moved slightly more slowly than the clear solution. However, within the larger pore sizes of the sand growth medium, we believe that movement of the dye and solution should have been more synchronous. In roots, where we observed that dye moved beyond the zone of 15N exposure, we were able to identify the exposed region of roots through a magnifying lens.
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Acknowledgements
We appreciate the extensive helps from the graduate students in Mou’s lab during the tedious and labor intensive plant harvest and root sorting works, they are: Y. Li, F. Hu, P. Wang, Y. Wang, Y. Pan, S. Li, J. Yang. Our thanks extend to the Isotope Mass Spectrometry Laboratory of the Chinese Forestry Academy for the technical support in sample 15 N analysis. This study was supported by the National Science Foundation of China (NSFC) grants (grants 30830024 31121003 30770330). The clarity and strength of the manuscript benefited greatly from the suggestions by 2 anonymous reviewers.
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Mou, P., Jones, R.H., Tan, Z. et al. Morphological and physiological plasticity of plant roots when nutrients are both spatially and temporally heterogeneous. Plant Soil 364, 373–384 (2013). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11104-012-1336-y
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11104-012-1336-y