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AOBPreview originally published online on August 29, 2007
Annals of Botany 2007 100(4):865-874; doi:10.1093/aob/mcm185
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© The Author 2007. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the Annals of Botany Company. All rights reserved. For Permissions, please email: journals.permissions@oxfordjournals.org

Relationship between Shoot-rooting and Root-sprouting Abilities and the Carbohydrate and Nitrogen Reserves of Mediterranean Dwarf Shrubs

Sara Palacio*, Melchor Maestro and Gabriel Montserrat-Martí

Pyrenean Institute of Ecology (CSIC). Av. Montañana, 1005. Apdo. 202. 50192 Zaragoza, Spain

* For correspondence. Present address: Macaulay Institute (Soils Group), Craigiebuckler, Aberdeen, AB15 SQH, UK. E-mail s.palacio{at}macaulay.ac.uk

Received: 15 February 2007    Returned for revision: 20 April 2007    Accepted: 25 June 2007    Published electronically: 29 August 2007

Background and Aims: This study analysed the differences in nitrogen (N), non-structural carbohydrates (NSC) and biomass allocation to the roots and shoots of 18 species of Mediterranean dwarf shrubs with different shoot-rooting and resprouting abilities. Root N and NSC concentrations of strict root-sprouters and species resprouting from the base of the stems were also compared.

Methods: Soluble sugars (SS), starch and N concentrations were assessed in roots and shoots. The root : shoot ratio of each species was obtained by thorough root excavations. Cross-species analyses were complemented by phylogenetically independent contrasts (PICs).

Key Results: Shoot-rooting species showed a preferential allocation of starch to shoots rather than roots as compared with non-shoot-rooting species. Resprouters displayed greater starch concentrations than non-sprouters in both shoots and roots. Trends were maintained after PICs analyses, but differences became weak when root-sprouters versus non-root-sprouters were compared. Within resprouters, strict root-sprouters showed greater root concentrations and a preferential allocation of starch to the roots than stem-sprouters. No differences were found in the root : shoot ratio of species with different rooting and resprouting abilities.

Conclusions: The shoot-rooting ability of Mediterranean dwarf shrubs seems to depend on the preferential allocation of starch and SS to shoots, though alternative C-sources such as current photosynthates may also be involved. In contrast to plants from other mediterranean areas of the world, the resprouting ability of Mediterranean dwarf shrubs is not related to a preferential allocation of N, NSC and biomass to roots.

Key words: Mediterranean dwarf shrubs, nitrogen, non-structural carbohydrates, sprouting, resprouting, disturbance response, root : shoot ratio, shoot-rooting ability, adventitious roots, allocation pattern, starch, chamaephytes


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