Effects of fertilization and competition on plant biomass allocation and internal resources: Does Plantago lanceolata follow the rules of economic theory?

0432193 - BÚ 2015 RIV NL eng J - Journal Article
Janeček, Štěpán - Patáčová, E. - Klimešová, Jitka
Effects of fertilization and competition on plant biomass allocation and internal resources: Does Plantago lanceolata follow the rules of economic theory?
Folia Geobotanica. Roč. 49, č. 1 (2014), s. 49-64. ISSN 1211-9520. E-ISSN 1874-9348
R&D Projects: GA ČR GA526/09/0963; GA ČR GA526/07/0808
Institutional research plan: CEZ:AV0Z60050516
Institutional support: RVO:67985939
Keywords : allocation * Plantago lanceolata * plasticity
Subject RIV: EH - Ecology, Behaviour
Impact factor: 1.778, year: 2014

The results for storage of resources supported economic theory: fertilized plants had higher concentrations of nitrogen than unfertilized plants, and unfertilized plants subjected to competition stored higher concentrations of non-structural carbohydrates than unfertilized plants without competition or fertilized plants with or without competition. Other results, mainly those related to the OPT, were inconsistent with economic theory. Nearly all examined allocations (except for the root/shoot ratio) were affected by both plant size and ontogeny. Theyalso showed true plasticity in their response to competition but usually not in their response to fertilization. Although our experimental plants did not increase leaf biomass when carbon was relatively scarce (in the fertilized treatment), higher foliar nitrogen might have enhanced photosynthesis without biomass investment in leaves. Our results indicate that economic theory and the methodological problems associated with its measurement should be reconsidered.
Permanent Link: http://hdl.handle.net/11104/0236655