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Can plants track changes in nutrient availability via changes in biomass partitioning?

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Abstract

Can old-field annuals exposed to temporally varying nutrient regimes adjust biomass partitioning programs in order to maximize growth? We grew three species of old-field annuals, Abutilon theophrasti, Chenopodium album, and Polygonum pensylvanicum, at low or high nutrient levels, and switched a subset of plants to the alternate nutrient regime after one or two weeks of growth. If plants were able to partition biomass in an optimal fashion, it would be predicted that changes in growth would be accompanied by changes in biomass partitioning programs. We found that when nutrient availability changes (e.g., from low to high) early in ontogeny, growth and partitioning to leaf area development are adjusted to be indistinguishable from those of plants grown at constant nutrient availabilities (e.g., always high). Root shoot partitioning, however, was developmentally fixed in two of the three species such that nutrient environment had no effect on root/shoot partitioning. Thus, although fluctuations in nutrient availability altered plant growth, the observed changes in growth occurred without concomitant adjustments to the root/ shoot partitioning program. These results imply that adjustments in allocation of biomass resources, at least between roots and shoots, are not necessary to effect alterations in plant growth in variable environments.

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McConnaughay, K., Coleman, J. Can plants track changes in nutrient availability via changes in biomass partitioning?. Plant and Soil 202, 201–209 (1998). https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1004341731703

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