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Biomass allocation and foliage heteroblasty in hard pine species respond differentially to reduction in rooting volume

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Abstract

Rooting space is considered as a resource in plants, but comparative studies on the biomass allocation plasticity in response to rooting volume (RV) are rare. We compared responses in growth, biomass allocation and ontogenetic heteroblasty in nine hard pine species of contrasted ecology. Seedlings were cultivated in containers of 0.2, 0.5, 1.0, 2.8 and 7 L for two growing seasons (425 days). Reduction in RV caused a reduction in plant absolute and relative growth rate and biomass allocated to stems but it increased biomass allocated to roots. RV affected to a lesser extent and in a less consistent direction allocation to leaves. Species that grew faster (higher relative growth rate) had a steeper decrease in growth with the reduction in RV. Ontogenetic heteroblasty, evaluated as the proportion of secondary needles in the needle biomass, showed highly different plasticity patterns in response to RV. Decrease in RV caused negligible or no change either in the most ontogenetically delayed Mediterranean pines or in the most ontogenetically advanced pines, the mesic Pinus sylvestris and P. uncinata. By contrast, ontogenetically intermediate species showed steep reaction norms in response to reduction in RV. While P. pinaster and P. brutia showed marked rejuvenation, P. nigra accelerated the development of adult foliage.

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Abbreviations

RV:

Rooting volume

RR:

Root restriction

TM:

Total plant biomass

AGR:

Absolute height growth rate

RGR:

Relative height growth rate

RMF:

Root mass fraction

SMF:

Stem mass fraction

LMF:

Leaf mass fraction

SNMF:

Secondary needles mass fraction

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Acknowledgments

This study was supported by projects AT05-002 and AT07-002 of INIA, CGL2007-60533/BOS, AGL2006-12609-C02-01/FOR of the Spanish Ministry of Science and Education, and S-0505/AMB/0355-REMEDINAL of Madrid Government. Nursery work was carried by TRAGSA (Maceda, Spain). Thanks to N. Godoy, F. Salgado and I. Blanco for nursery and laboratory work and to G. Ruiz and L. Rodríguez for supervising the whole experiment. The English version was kindly revised by Marcas Ó Murchú, Derry, Ireland.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. CIFOR. Instituto Nacional de Investigación y Tecnología Agraria y Alimentaria (INIA), Apto. 8111, 28080, Madrid, Spain

    José Climent, Maria Regina Chambel & Marta Pardos

  2. Departamento de Mejora Agroforestal, TRAGSA, Ctra. de Maceda-Valdrey km 2, 32700, Maceda (Ourense), Spain

    Francisco Lario

  3. Departamento de Ecología, Universidad de Alcalá, Carretera Madrid-Barcelona Km 33.6, 28871, Alcalá de Henares (Madrid), Spain

    Pedro Villar-Salvador

  4. Sustainable Forest Management Research Institute (UVA-INIA), Palencia, Spain

    José Climent & Maria Regina Chambel

  5. CIFOR-INIA, Ctra. A Coruña km 7.5, 28040, Madrid, Spain

    José Climent

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  1. José Climent
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Correspondence to José Climent.

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Communicated by R. Matyssek.

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Climent, J., Chambel, M.R., Pardos, M. et al. Biomass allocation and foliage heteroblasty in hard pine species respond differentially to reduction in rooting volume. Eur J Forest Res 130, 841–850 (2011). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10342-010-0476-y

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