Global systematic review with meta-analysis shows that warming effects on terrestrial plant biomass allocation are influenced by precipitation and mycorrhizal association ...

• Main Authors: Zhou, Lingyan, Zhou, Xuhui, He, Yanghui, Fu, Yuling, Du, Zhenggang, Lu, Meng, Sun, Xiaoying, Li, Chenghao, Lu, Chunyan, Liu, Ruiqiang, Zhou, Guiyao, Hosseni Bai, Shahla, Thakur, Madhav P.
• Format: Text
• Language: unknown
• Published: Springer Nature 2022
• Subjects: 570 Life sciences; biology; Tundra
• Online Access: https://dx.doi.org/10.48350/172247; https://boris.unibe.ch/172247/

Biomass allocation in plants is fundamental for understanding and predicting terrestrial carbon storage. Yet, our knowledge regarding warming effects on root: shoot ratio (R/S) remains limited. Here, we present a meta-analysis encompassing more than 300 studies and including angiosperms and gymnosperms as well as different biomes (cropland, desert, forest, grassland, tundra, and wetland). The meta-analysis shows that average warming of 2.50 °C (median = 2 °C) significantly increases biomass allocation to roots with a mean increase of 8.1% in R/S. Two factors associate significantly with this response to warming: mean annual precipitation and the type of mycorrhizal fungi associated with plants. Warming-induced allocation to roots is greater in drier habitats when compared to shoots (+15.1% in R/S), while lower in wetter habitats (+4.9% in R/S). This R/S pattern is more frequent in plants associated with arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi, compared to ectomycorrhizal fungi. These results show that precipitation ...