13C and 15N allocations of two alpine species from early and late snowmelt locations reflect their different growth strategies

Intense efforts are currently devoted to disentangling the relationships between plant carbon (C) allocation patterns and soil nitrogen (N) availability because of their consequences for growth and more generally for C sequestration. In cold ecosystems, only a few studies have addressed whole-plant...

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Détails bibliographiques
Publié dans:Journal of experimental botany. - 1985. - 60(2009), 9 vom: 09., Seite 2725-35
Auteur principal: Baptist, Florence (Auteur)
Autres auteurs: Tcherkez, Guillaume, Aubert, Serge, Pontailler, Jean-Yves, Choler, Philippe, Nogués, Salvador
Format: Article en ligne
Langue:English
Publié: 2009
Accès à la collection:Journal of experimental botany
Sujets:Comparative Study Journal Article Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't Carbon Isotopes Nitrogen Isotopes
Description
Résumé:Intense efforts are currently devoted to disentangling the relationships between plant carbon (C) allocation patterns and soil nitrogen (N) availability because of their consequences for growth and more generally for C sequestration. In cold ecosystems, only a few studies have addressed whole-plant C and/or N allocation along natural elevational or topographical gradients. (12)C/(13)C and (14)N/(15)N isotope techniques have been used to elucidate C and N partitioning in two alpine graminoids characterized by contrasted nutrient economies: a slow-growing species, Kobresia myosuroides (KM), and a fast-growing species, Carex foetida (CF), located in early and late snowmelt habitats, respectively, within the alpine tundra (French Alps). CF allocated higher labelling-related (13)C content belowground and produced more root biomass. Furthermore, assimilates transferred to the roots were preferentially used for growth rather than respiration and tended to favour N reduction in this compartment. Accordingly, this species had higher (15)N uptake efficiency than KM and a higher translocation of reduced (15)N to aboveground organs. These results suggest that at the whole-plant level, there is a compromise between N acquisition/reduction and C allocation patterns for optimized growth
Description:Date Completed 13.08.2009
Date Revised 22.03.2024
published: Print-Electronic
Citation Status MEDLINE
ISSN:1460-2431
DOI:10.1093/jxb/erp128