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Tag Archives: nitrogen

Gender segregation and sex allocation in pine

By Alex | Published: 22nd of June 2011

Many sex-ratio-related studies have focused on dioecious or monoecious herbaceous plants, but relatively few have looked at trees. Ne’eman et al. examine changes in gender segregation and sex allocation in Pinus halepensis. Young trees only produce female cones, which are mainly in the upper part of the crown, but both male and females are produced [...]

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CO2 effects on reproduction versus vegetative growth

By Alex | Published: 28th of May 2011

Increased atmospheric CO2 concentrations may affect competition for resources between reproduction and shoot growth in forest species. Han et al. examine mature beech (Fagus sylvatica) trees in masting and non-masting years with or without long-term CO2 enrichment and find that a reduction in shoot growth associated with masting is not observed under elevated CO2. Competition [...]

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Nitrogen and water effects on functional traits

By Alex | Published: 16th of February 2011

Nitrogen and water effects on functional traits Changes in resource supply can have significant effects on plant functional traits. Ren et al. conduct a field study to examine the responses of five herbaceous perennial steppe species to variations in nitrogen and water supply. They find that addition of N and water both reduce leaf longevity, and [...]

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Patterns of resource allocation in a dioecious species

By Alex | Published: 31st of January 2011

Patterns of resource allocation in a dioecious species Resource allocation between vegetative and reproductive growth will vary over time, and dioecious species may also adopt different strategies for allocation between male and female plants. Sanchez Vilas and Pannell show that males and females of the annual Mercurialis annua differ in temporal patterns of resource allocation [...]

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Carnivorous plants prefer to kill in broad daylight

By Alun Salt | Published: 4th of August 2010

I owe thanks to Dr Andrej Pavlovič for being a patient guinea pig with my first press-release (you can find it on Science Daily) and to Lizzie Shannon-Little at OUP for helping put it out. It’s good timing because another paper by Pavlovič on carnivorous plants and photosynthesis is now a year old – which [...]

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Growth–differentiation balance in stressed juvenile plants

By EditorPatHeslopHarrison | Published: 2nd of August 2010

The growth–differentiation balance hypothesis states that there is a physiological trade-off between growth and secondary metabolism. Cella Pizarro and Bisigato (pp. 297–307) investigate the response of six species subjected to differing water supply in terms of biomass and resource allocation. They find that drought affects growth-related processes rather than defence-related secondary metabolism or allocation, thus [...]

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