Abstract
Summary Although plant nitrogen (N) strategies may play an important role for community structure and ecosystem functioning, there is not a clear understanding of the link between N acquisition by roots and N utilization by shoots. Particularly, it is unclear how the co‐variations between size‐ and physiology‐related traits determine N acquisition and N utilization at the plant scale. We used 13 co‐occurring temperate pasture grasses to study inter‐specific variations in above‐ground N yield and in root N acquisition and shoot N utilization traits. N acquisition traits concerned root influx capacities for and , root mass and specific root area in ingrowth cores. N utilization traits concerned leaf life span, leaf N content, leaf N resorption, mean residence time of N and leaf N use efficiency. We found evidence for three trade‐offs across species concerning root N acquisition: (i) root mass increased when specific root area declined; (ii) an increase in root area was observed when total N influx capacity decreased; and (iii) root influx capacity increased when capacity declined. High total root uptake capacity gave rise to high leaf N content and was associated across species to low leaf N use efficiency. Tall grasses were characterized by high shoot N yield, high root biomass and high leaf N use efficiency. Physiology‐related traits and size‐related traits were generally found independent. Our study demonstrates how size and N uptake related root traits are associated to major axes of plant specialization ((i) plant size and (ii) conservation vs. exploitation of N) which were previously identified based on shoot traits. Contrasted N strategies were segregated across species according to four combinations along these two axes.
Abstract from the paper’s OpenAlex record, shown for indexing and research. Copyright remains with the authors or the publisher. Read at the source ↗
The text the model read, with the source record’s inline markup (italics, sub- and superscripts) rendered and its character entities decoded; quote offsets refer to the raw text.
Claims 8
Claim · model-written summary
Root mass increased as specific root area declined across grasses.
Verbatim
e0“root mass increased when specific root area declined”
t0“pasture grass species”
Claim · model-written summary
Root area increased as total nitrogen influx capacity decreased.
Verbatim
e0“an increase in root area was observed when total N influx capacity decreased”
t0“pasture grass species”
Claim · model-written summary
One root influx capacity increased as another capacity declined; the nutrient identities are missing from the supplied text.
Verbatim
e0“root influx capacity increased when capacity declined”
t0“pasture grass species”
Claim · model-written summary
High total root uptake capacity was associated with high leaf nitrogen content.
Verbatim
e0“High total root uptake capacity gave rise to high leaf N content”
t0“pasture grass species”
Claim · model-written summary
High total root uptake capacity was associated with low leaf nitrogen use efficiency.
Verbatim
e0“was associated across species to low leaf N use efficiency”
t0“pasture grass species”
Claim · model-written summary
Tall grasses had high shoot nitrogen yield, root biomass, and leaf nitrogen use efficiency.
Verbatim
e0“Tall grasses were characterized by high shoot N yield, high root biomass and high leaf N use efficiency”
t0“pasture grass species”
Claim · model-written summary
Physiology and size traits were generally independent.
Verbatim
e0“Physiology‐related traits and size‐related traits were generally found independent”
t0“pasture grass species”
Claim · model-written summary
Contrasting nitrogen strategies segregated into four combinations along size and nitrogen conservation axes.
Verbatim
e0“Contrasted N strategies were segregated across species according to four combinations along these two axes”
t0“pasture grass species”