Home > Articles > Published articles > Changes in nutrient concentrations of leaves and roots in response to global change factors |
Date: | 2017 |
Abstract: | Global change impacts on biogeochemical cycles have been widely studied, but our understanding of whether the responses of plant elemental composition to global change drivers differ between above- and belowground plant organs remains incomplete. We conducted a meta-analysis of 201 reports including 1,687 observations of studies that have analyzed simultaneously N and P concentrations changes in leaves and roots in the same plants in response to drought, elevated [CO₂], and N and P fertilization around the world, and contrasted the results within those obtained with a general database (838 reports and 14,772 observations) that analyzed the changes in N and P concentrations in leaves and/or roots of plants submitted to the commented global change drivers. At global level, elevated [CO₂] decreased N concentrations in leaves and roots and decreased N:P ratio in roots but no in leaves, but was not related to P concentration changes. However, the response differed among vegetation types. In temperate forests, elevated [CO₂] was related with lower N concentrations in leaves but not in roots, whereas in crops, the contrary patterns were observed. Elevated [CO₂] decreased N concentrations in leaves and roots in tundra plants, whereas not clear relationships were observed in temperate grasslands. However, when elevated [CO₂] and N fertilization coincided, leaves had lower N concentrations, whereas root had higher N concentrations suggesting that more nutrients will be allocated to roots to improve uptake of the soil resources not directly provided by the global change drivers. N fertilization and drought increased foliar and root N concentrations while the effects on P concentrations were less clear. The changes in N and P allocation to leaves and root, especially those occurring in opposite direction between them have the capacity to differentially affect above- and belowground ecosystem functions, such as litter mineralization and above- and belowground food webs. |
Grants: | European Commission 610028 Ministerio de Economía y Competitividad CGL2013-48074-P Agència de Gestió d'Ajuts Universitaris i de Recerca 2014/SGR-274 |
Rights: | Tots els drets reservats. |
Language: | Anglès |
Document: | Article ; recerca ; Versió acceptada per publicar |
Subject: | CO 2 ; N deposition ; N:P ; Drought ; Ecological stoichiometry ; Nitrogen ; Phosphorus |
Published in: | Global change biology, Vol. 23, issue 9 (Sep. 2017) , p. 3849-3856, ISSN 1365-2486 |
Post-print 25 p, 2.2 MB |