ArticleThe New phytologist2020
On the importance of root traits in seedlings of tropical tree species.
Article in The New phytologist, 2020. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 13 papers.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
13 citing papers in PubMed.
- The effects of nitrogen and phosphorus fertilization on nutrient resorption in female and male Populus cathayana.Plant biology (Stuttgart, Germany) · 2026Article
- The impact of shade on whole-plant carbon allocation in a dominant East African tree sapling.AoB PLANTS · 2025Article
- Biomass allocation between reproductive and vegetative organs of Artemisia along a large environmental gradient.BMC plant biology · 2025Article
- Intraspecific Trait Variation in Seedlings Reveals Independence Between Leaf and Root Traits but a Lack of an Independent "Collaboration Axis" Belowground.Plant-environment interactions (Hoboken, N.J.) · 2024Article
- Adaptive Seedling Strategies in Seasonally Dry Tropical Forests: A Comparative Study of Six Tree Species.Plants (Basel, Switzerland) · 2024Article
- Use ofMicroorganisms · 2024Review
- Fire, environmental and anthropogenic controls on pantropical tree cover.Communications earth & environment · 2024Article
- Under-canopy afforestation after 10 years: assessing the potential of converting monoculture plantations into mixed stands.Frontiers in plant science · 2024Article
- Precipitation Dominates the Allocation Strategy of Above- and Belowground Biomass in Plants on Macro Scales.Plants (Basel, Switzerland) · 2023Article
- Below-ground traits mediate tree survival in a tropical dry forest restoration.Philosophical transactions of the Royal Society of London. Series B, Biological sciences · 2023Article
- Tree seedling growth allocation ofFrontiers in plant science · 2023Article
- Root traits in response to frequent fires: Implications for belowground carbon dynamics in fire-prone savannas.Frontiers in plant science · 2023Article
- Responses of tree seedlings to understory filtering by the recalcitrant fern layer in a subtropical forest.Frontiers in plant science · 2022Article
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
7 authors.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
Plant biomass allocation may be optimized to acquire and conserve resources. How trade-offs in the allocation of tropical tree seedlings depend on different stressors remains poorly understood. Here we test whether above- and below-ground traits of tropical tree seedlings could explain observed occurrence along gradients of resources (light, water) and defoliation (fire, herbivory). We grew 24 tree species occurring in five African vegetation types, varying from dry savanna to moist forest, in a glasshouse for 6 months, and measured traits associated with biomass allocation. Classification based on above-ground traits resulted in clusters representing savanna and forest species, with low and high shoot investment, respectively. Classification based on root traits resulted in four clusters representing dry savanna, humid savanna, dry forest and moist forest, characterized by a deep mean rooting depth, root starch investment, high specific root length in deeper soil layers, and high specific root length in the top soil layer, respectively. In conclusion, tree seedlings in this study show root trait syndromes, which vary along gradients of resources and defoliation: seedlings from dry areas invest in deep roots, seedlings from shaded environments optimize shoot investment, and seedlings experiencing frequent defoliation store resources in the roots.
Indexed as
Identifiers
What OpenQuestion holds
Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.