ArticleFrontiers in plant science2021
The Economics Spectrum Drives Root Trait Strategies in Mediterranean Vegetation.
Article in Frontiers in plant science, 2021. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 19 papers.
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Who cites it
19 citing papers in PubMed, 33 citations in OpenAlex.
- Article
- Leaf-Root Trait Coordination Among Dominant Herbaceous Species Across Three Marsh Habitats in Northeast China.Plants (Basel, Switzerland) · 2026Article
- From the Ground Up: Can Root Traits Help Understand Invasion Dynamics?Ecology and evolution · 2026Review
- Altitudinal Variation in Trade-Off Strategies of the Plant Economics Spectrum ofEcology and evolution · 2026Article
- Differentiable land model reveals global environmental controls on latent ecological functions.Nature communications · 2026Article
- Belowground and Aboveground Responses to Mixed Metal Contamination in Native Central European Trees in Relation to the Species-Specific Autecology.Plants (Basel, Switzerland) · 2026Article
- The coordination between root and leaf functional traits across 33 woody plant species shifts between mycorrhizal types.Tree physiology · 2026Article
- Phenotypic integration of post-germination traits in Quercus suber: morphology is mediated by acorn mass and leaf physiology by populations' climate.Annals of botany · 2025Article
- Construction costs and tradeoffs in carnivorous pitcher plant leaves: towards a pitcher leaf economics spectrum.Annals of botany · 2025Review
- Intraspecific Functional Trait Variation and Coordination inEcology and evolution · 2025Article
- Functional differentiation and adaptive responses of absorptive and transport roots in alpine grassland plants under nitrogen and phosphorus addition.Frontiers in plant science · 2025Article
- Nitrogen allocation among leaves and roots mediates the interaction between plant life history trade-off and density dependence.Frontiers in plant science · 2025Article
- Does a whole plant conservation gradient exist within a subtropical broadleaved evergreen forest?Frontiers in plant science · 2024Article
- Living at the edge: the functional niche occupation of woody plant communities in the submediterranean ecotone.Annals of botany · 2023Article
- Perennial grass root system specializes for multiple resource acquisitions with differential elongation and branching patterns.Frontiers in plant science · 2023Article
- Mulching in lowland hay meadows drives an adaptive convergence of above- and below-ground traits reducing plasticity and improving biomass: A possible tool for enhancing phytoremediation.Frontiers in plant science · 2022Article
- Anatomical structure interpretation of the effect of soil environment on fine root function.Frontiers in plant science · 2022Article
- Unveiling Differences in Root Defense Mechanisms Between Tolerant and Susceptible Olive Cultivars toFrontiers in plant science · 2022Article
- Evidence of Differences in Covariation Among Root Traits Across Plant Growth Forms, Mycorrhizal Types, and Biomes.Frontiers in plant science · 2021Article
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
8 authors at 5 institutions in 2 countries.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
Extensive research efforts are devoted to understand fine root trait variation and to confirm the existence of a belowground root economics spectrum (RES) from acquisitive to conservative root strategies that is analogous to the leaf economics spectrum (LES). The economics spectrum implies a trade-off between maximizing resource acquisition and productivity or maximizing resource conservation and longevity; however, this theoretical framework still remains controversial for roots. We compiled a database of 320 Mediterranean woody and herbaceous species to critically assess if the classic economics spectrum theory can be broadly extended to roots. Fine roots displayed a wide diversity of forms and properties in Mediterranean vegetation, resulting in a multidimensional trait space. The main trend of variation in this multidimensional root space is analogous to the main axis of LES, while the second trend of variation is partially determined by an anatomical trade-off between tissue density and diameter. Specific root area (SRA) is the main trait explaining species distribution along the RES, regardless of the selected traits. We advocate for the need to unify and standardize the criteria and approaches used within the economics framework between leaves and roots, for the sake of theoretical consistency.
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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.