Carbon/nutrient balance as a predictor of plant defense in Alaskan balsam poplar: Potential importance of metabolite turnover.
The carbon/nutrient balance hypothesis fails to correctly predict effects of fertilization and shading on concentrations of defensive metabolites in Alaskan balsam poplar (Populus balsamifera). Of six metabolites analyzed, only one responded in the predicted fashion to fertilization and one to shading. These results and those of other similar studies suggest that while the carbon/nutrient balance hypothesis may correctly predict the effects of fertilization and shading on the concentrations of metabolic "end products", it fails for many metabolites because of the dynamics associated with their production and turnover. In metabolites that turn over, static concentration is a poor predictor of defensive investment.
Department of Chemistry, University of Alaska, 99775, Fairbanks, AK, USA.
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Reichardt
Department of Chemistry, University of Alaska, 99775, Fairbanks, AK, USA.
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Chapin
Institute of Arctic Biology, University of Alaska, 99775, Fairbanks, AK, USA.
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Bryant
Department of Chemistry, University of Alaska, 99775, Fairbanks, AK, USA.
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Mattes
Department of Chemistry, University of Alaska, 99775, Fairbanks, AK, USA.
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Clausen
Balsam poplar; Carbon/nutrient balance hypothesis; Plant defense; Snowshoe hare