A tale of two grasslands: how belowground storage organs coordinate their traits with water-use traits

0548696 - BÚ 2022 RIV NL eng J - Journal Article
Lubbe, Frederick Curtis - Bitomský, Martin - Hájek, Tomáš - De Bello, F. - Doležal, Jiří - Jandová, Veronika - Janeček, Š. - Bartušková, Alena - Lanta, Vojtěch - Klimešová, Jitka
A tale of two grasslands: how belowground storage organs coordinate their traits with water-use traits.
Plant and Soil. Roč. 465, 1-2 (2021), s. 533-548. ISSN 0032-079X. E-ISSN 1573-5036
R&D Projects: GA ČR GA19-13103S; GA ČR(CZ) GA19-13231S; GA MŠMT LTAUSA18007
Institutional support: RVO:67985939
Keywords : plant traits * water use efficiency * belowground
OECD category: Ecology
Impact factor: 4.993, year: 2021
Method of publishing: Limited access

Plant belowground storage traits are important for mediating environmental stress, but their role in response to water availability and their coordination with above-ground traits is largely unknown. We predicted a coordination of conservative above- and belowground traits and preferential storage of water-soluble carbohydrates in the drier grassland and acquisitive traits and preferential storage of starch in the wetter grassland. We examined the relationship between plant preference/response for water availability (habitat preference, intrinsic water use efficiency, and leaf relative water content deficit) and the traits of belowground storage organs (morphological, anatomical, and storage carbohydrate concentration) in 37 perennial herbs from a wet and a dry temperate grassland in the Czech Republic. Species from the dry grassland preferred lower moisture, had greater water use efficiency than those from the wet grassland, and were also more conservative in their morphological and leaf traits. Although dry grassland plants preferentially stored oligo- and polysaccharides, their water-use efficiency increased with greater concentrations of starch. Leaf relative water content deficit did not vary significantly between the grasslands and additionally, the relationship to plant economy was not always in accord with other measures of preference for water availability. Our results imply that belowground storage organs play a role in the response to reduced water availability. The strategies employed are further dependent upon the habitat and phylogeny of the species.
Permanent Link: http://hdl.handle.net/11104/0324748