Changes in nutrient concentrations of leaves and roots in response to global change factors

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...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Global Change Biology
Main Authors: Sardans, Jordi, Grau, Oriol, Chen, Han Y. H., Janssens, Ivan A., Ciais, Philippe, Piao, Shilong, Penuelas, Josep
Other Authors: Sardans, J (reprint author), Autonomous Univ Barcelona, CREAF, Bellaterra, Spain., CSIC, Global Ecol Unit CREAF CEAB UAB, Barcelona, Spain., CREAF, Barcelona, Spain., Lakehead Univ, Fac Nat Resources Management, Thunder Bay, ON, Canada., Univ Antwerp, Dept Biol, Res Grp Plant & Vegetat Ecol PLECO, Antwerp, Belgium., IPSL, Lab Sci Climat & Environm, Gif Sur Yvette, France., Peking Univ, Sinofrench Inst Earth Syst Sci, Coll Urban & Environm Sci, Beijing, Peoples R China., Autonomous Univ Barcelona, CREAF, Bellaterra, Spain.
Format: Journal/Newspaper
Language:English
Published: GLOBAL CHANGE BIOLOGY 2017
Subjects:
CO2
drought
ecological stoichiometry
N deposition
N:P
nitrogen
phosphorus
PHOSPHORUS FERTILIZATION
NITROGEN-FERTILIZATION
PRIMARY PRODUCTIVITY
INSECT HERBIVORE
PLANT BIOMASS
SOIL
STOICHIOMETRY
FOREST
Tundra
Online Access:https://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11897/471291
https://doi.org/10.1111/gcb.13721
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Summary: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. European Research Council [ERC-SyG-2013-610028 IMBALANCE-P]; Spanish Government [CGL2013-48074-P]; Catalan Government [SGR 2014-274] SCI(E) ARTICLE 9 3849-3856 23

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