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Allocation patterns of nonstructural carbohydrates in response to CO2 elevation and nitrogen deposition in Cunninghamia lanceolata saplings

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Abstract

Stored nonstructural carbohydrates (NSC) indicate a balance between photosynthetic carbon (C) assimilation and growth investment or loss through respiration and root exudation. They play an important role in plant function and whole-plant level C cycling. CO2 elevation and nitrogen (N) deposition, which are two major environmental issues worldwide, affect plant photosynthetic C assimilation and C release in forest ecosystems. However, information regarding the effect of CO2 elevation and N deposition on NSC storage in different organs remains limited, especially regarding the trade-off between growth and NSC reserves. Therefore, here we analyzed the variations in the NSC storage in different organs of Chinese fir (Cunninghamia lanceolata) under CO2 elevation and N addition and found that NSC concentrations and contents in all organs of Chinese fir saplings increased remarkably under CO2 elevation. However, N addition induced differential accumulation of NSC among various organs. Specifically, N addition decreased the NSC concentrations of needles, branches, stems, and fine roots, but increased the NSC contents of branches and coarse roots. The increase in the NSC contents of roots was more pronounced than that in the NSC content of aboveground organs under CO2 elevation. The role of N addition in the increase in the structural biomass of aboveground organs was greater than that in the increase in the structural biomass of roots. This result indicated that a different trade-off between growth and NSC storage occurred to alleviate resource limitations under CO2 elevation and N addition and highlights the importance of separating biomass into structural biomass and NSC reserves when investigating the effects of environmental change on biomass allocation.

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Acknowledgements

We thank Youzhi Yu for his invaluable assistance with laboratory and field experiments.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Fujian Provincial Key Laboratory of Resources and Environmental Monitoring and Sustainable Management and Utilization, Sanming University, Sanming, 365004, People’s Republic of China

    Wenhui Zheng

  2. CAS Key Laboratory of Forest Ecology and Management, Institute of Applied Ecology, Huitong Experimental Station of Forest Ecology, Shenyang, 110016, People’s Republic of China

    Wenhui Zheng, Qingpeng Yang, Weidong Zhang, Ke Huang, Xin Guan, Longchi Chen, Qingkui Wang & Silong Wang

  3. Huitong National Research Station of Forest Ecosystem, Huaihua, Huitong, 418307, People’s Republic of China

    Qingpeng Yang, Weidong Zhang, Ke Huang, Xin Guan, Longchi Chen, Qingkui Wang & Silong Wang

  4. Life Science Department, Luoyang Normal University, Luoyang, 471934, People’s Republic of China

    Renshan Li

  5. Fujian Provincial Key Laboratory of the Development and Utilization of Bamboo Resources, Sanming University, Sanming, 365004, People’s Republic of China

    Xin Yu

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  1. Wenhui Zheng
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Correspondence to Qingpeng Yang, Qingkui Wang or Silong Wang.

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Project funding: This work was supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Grant Nos. 32192434, 42007102), Natural Science Foundation of Fujian Province (Grant No. 2020J01376), the Start-up Foundation for Advanced Talents in Sanming University (Grant No. 19YG13) and Educational Research Project for Young and Middle-aged Teachers of Fujian Provincial Department of Education (Grant No. JAT190704).

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Corresponding editor: Yanbo Hu.

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Zheng, W., Li, R., Yang, Q. et al. Allocation patterns of nonstructural carbohydrates in response to CO2 elevation and nitrogen deposition in Cunninghamia lanceolata saplings. J. For. Res. 34, 87–98 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11676-022-01533-x

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