Scots pine fine roots adjust along a 2000-km latitudinal climatic gradient.
Patterns of plant biomass allocation and functional adjustments along climatic gradients are poorly understood, particularly belowground. Generally, low temperatures suppress nutrient release and uptake, and forests under such conditions have a greater proportion of their biomass in roots. However, it is not clear whether 'more roots' means better capacity to acquire soil resources. Herein we quantified patterns of fine-root anatomy and their biomass distribution across Scots pine (Pinus sylvestris) populations both along a 2000-km latitudinal gradient and within a common garden experiment with a similar range of populations. We found that with decreasing mean temperature, a greater percentage of Scots pine root biomass was allocated to roots with higher potential absorptive capacity. Similar results were seen in the common experimental site, where cold-adapted populations produced roots with greater absorptive capacity than populations originating from warmer climates. These results demonstrate that plants growing in or originated from colder climates have more acquisitive roots, a trait that is likely adaptive in the face of the low resource availability typical of cold soils.
Institute of Dendrology, Polish Academy of Sciences, Parkowa 5, 62-035, Kórnik, Poland. zadworny@man.poznan.pl.
Marcin
M
Zadworny
Department of Plant Biology, University of Minnesota, St Paul, MN, 55108, USA.|Key Laboratory of Ecosystem Network Observation and Modeling, Institute of Geographic Sciences and Natural Resources Research, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, 100101, China.
M Luke
ML
McCormack
Institute of Dendrology, Polish Academy of Sciences, Parkowa 5, 62-035, Kórnik, Poland.
Joanna
J
Mucha
Department of Forest Resources, University of Minnesota, St Paul, MN, 55108, USA.|Hawkesbury Institute for the Environment, Western Sydney University, Penrith, NSW, 2751, Australia.
Peter B
PB
Reich
Institute of Dendrology, Polish Academy of Sciences, Parkowa 5, 62-035, Kórnik, Poland.|Department of Forest Resources, University of Minnesota, St Paul, MN, 55108, USA.
Jacek
J
Oleksyn
D000531:Altitude; D002980:Climate; D005060:Europe; D005843:Geography; D041605:Pinus sylvestris / Q000382:microbiology / Q000502:physiology*; D018517:Plant Roots / Q000502:physiology*; D013696:Temperature; D014197:Trees / Q000502:physiology; D014867:Water
D014867:Water
Scots pine (Pinus sylvestris) ecotypic variation; genetic control of root development; latitude gradients; root cold-adaptation; roots absorptive capacity