SynthesisAnnals of botany2016
A meta-analysis of leaf nitrogen distribution within plant canopies.
Synthesis in Annals of botany, 2016. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 29 papers.
What it found
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Who cites it
29 citing papers in PubMed.
- Hyperspectral Estimation of Layer-Specific Leaf Nitrogen Content in Potato Canopy by Integrating Fractional-Order Derivatives and Three-Band Spectral Indices.Plants (Basel, Switzerland) · 2026Article
- Effect of Fertilization and Row Spacing on the Performance of Nettle (Plants (Basel, Switzerland) · 2026Article
- Variation of leaf photosynthetic traits is mostly driven by changes in source-sink relationship rather than irradiance in pear tree canopies.BMC plant biology · 2026Article
- UAV-Based Yield Prediction Based on LAI Estimation in Winter Wheat (Plants (Basel, Switzerland) · 2025Article
- Review
- Photosynthesis and photoprotection in top leaves respond faster to irradiance fluctuations than bottom leaves in a tomato canopy.Journal of experimental botany · 2024Article
- Perspectives on improving photosynthesis to increase crop yield.The Plant cell · 2024Review
- Photosynthetic capacity and assimilate transport of the lower canopy influence maize yield under high planting density.Plant physiology · 2024Article
- Maximizing the Radiation Use Efficiency by Matching the Leaf Area and Leaf Nitrogen Vertical Distributions in a Maize Canopy: A Simulation Study.Plant phenomics (Washington, D.C.) · 2024Article
- Growing-season carbon budget of alpine meadow ecosystem in the Qinghai Lake Basin: a continued carbon sink through this century according to the Biome-BGC model.Carbon balance and management · 2023Article
- Variation in leaf photosynthetic capacity within plant canopies: optimization, structural, and physiological constraints and inefficiencies.Photosynthesis research · 2023Review
- Identification of photosynthetic parameters for superior yield of two super hybrid rice varieties: A cross-scale study from leaf to canopy.Frontiers in plant science · 2023Article
- Bio-Master: Design and Validation of a High-Throughput Biochemical Profiling Platform for Crop Canopies.Plant phenomics (Washington, D.C.) · 2023Article
- A 'wiring diagram' for source strength traits impacting wheat yield potential.Journal of experimental botany · 2023Review
- A model-guided holistic review of exploiting natural variation of photosynthesis traits in crop improvement.Journal of experimental botany · 2022Review
- A Photosynthetic Light Acclimation Model Accounting for the Effects of Leaf Age, Chlorophyll Content, and Intra-Leaf Radiation Transfer.Frontiers in plant science · 2022Article
- Distributions of photosynthetic traits, shoot growth, and anti-herbivory defence within a canopy of Quercus serrata in different soil nutrient conditions.Scientific reports · 2021Article
- Vertical distribution of gas exchanges and their integration throughout the entire canopy in a maize field.Photosynthesis research · 2021Article
- The Interrelationship Between Water Use Efficiency and Radiation Use Efficiency Under Progressive Soil Drying in Maize.Frontiers in plant science · 2021Article
- Community Composition and Structure Affect Ecosystem and Canopy Water Use Efficiency Across Three Typical Alpine Ecosystems.Frontiers in plant science · 2021Article
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
12 authors.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
BACKGROUND AND
aimsLeaf nitrogen distribution in the plant canopy is an important determinant for canopy photosynthesis. Although the gradient of leaf nitrogen is formed along light gradients in the canopy, its quantitative variations among species and environmental responses remain unknown. Here, we conducted a global meta-analysis of leaf nitrogen distribution in plant canopies.
methodsWe collected data on the nitrogen distribution and environmental variables from 393 plant canopies (100, 241 and 52 canopies for wheat, other herbaceous and woody species, respectively). KEY
resultsThe trends were clearly different between wheat and other species; the photosynthetic nitrogen distribution coefficient (Kb) was mainly determined by leaf area index (LAI) in wheat, whereas it was correlated with the light extinction coefficient (KL) and LAI in other species. Some other variables were also found to influence Kb We present the best equations for Kb as a function of environmental variables and canopy characteristics. As a more simple function, Kb = 0·5KL can be used for canopies of species other than wheat. Sensitivity analyses using a terrestrial carbon flux model showed that gross primary production tended to be more sensitive to the Kb value especially when nitrogen content of the uppermost leaf was fixed.
conclusionOur results reveal that nitrogen distribution is mainly driven by the vertical light gradient but other factors such as LAI also have significant effects. Our equations contribute to an improvement in the projection of plant productivity and cycling of carbon and nitrogen in terrestrial ecosystems.
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