ArticleProceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America2024
Linking fine root lifespan to root chemical and morphological traits-A global analysis.
Article in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America, 2024. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 18 papers.
What it found
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Who cites it
18 citing papers in PubMed, 36 citations in OpenAlex.
- Article
- A functional-trophic pathway links riparian land use intensification to riverine community stability.Science advances · 2026Article
- The position along rhizome as a surrogate for root age: effect on fine root traits.Annals of botany · 2026Article
- Mycorrhizal Type Steers Trait-Function Linkages in Root Nitrogen Uptake Across Subtropical Tree Species.Plant, cell & environment · 2026Article
- Morphological Traits Shape Foraging Scale but Not Precision: Divergent Responses of Four Tree Species to Water and Nutrient Heterogeneity.Plants (Basel, Switzerland) · 2026Article
- Bacillus seed coating mitigates early growth reduction in successive winter wheat without altering rhizosphere bacterial and archaeal communities.BMC plant biology · 2026Article
- Differential responses of fine root biomass to nitrogen deposition mediated by functional diversity.Frontiers in plant science · 2026Article
- Associations between fine-root traits and soil nutrient profile differentiation during degradation ofFrontiers in plant science · 2026Article
- Root structural remodeling under soil compaction for herbaceous plants.Plant diversity · 2026Article
- Rooting for function: community-level fine-root traits relate to many ecosystem functions.The New phytologist · 2025Article
- Arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi colonization facilitates nitrogen uptake in cotton under nitrogen - reduction condition.BMC plant biology · 2025Article
- Leaf Nutrient Resorption Efficiency Aligns with the Leaf but Not Root Economic Spectrum in a Tropical Mangrove Forest.Plants (Basel, Switzerland) · 2025Article
- Arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi colonization regulates root traits and soil carbon economic strategies.BMC plant biology · 2025Article
- Distribution patterns of fungal community diversity in the dominant tree speciesMicrobiology spectrum · 2025Article
- Dynamics of pine ectomycorrhizae following root disturbance.Mycorrhiza · 2025Article
- Plant Species Richness and the Root Economics Space Drive Soil Fungal Communities.Ecology letters · 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
- Arbuscular mycorrhizal colonization defines root ecological strategies in an extreme arid environment.Frontiers in plant science · 2024Article
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Authors and funding
12 authors at 11 institutions in 7 countries.
Funding
Abstract
Fine root lifespan is a critical trait associated with contrasting root strategies of resource acquisition and protection. Yet, its position within the multidimensional "root economics space" synthesizing global root economics strategies is largely uncertain, and it is rarely represented in frameworks integrating plant trait variations. Here, we compiled the most comprehensive dataset of absorptive median root lifespan (MRL) data including 98 observations from 79 woody species using (mini-)rhizotrons across 40 sites and linked MRL to other plant traits to address questions of the regulators of MRL at large spatial scales. We demonstrate that MRL not only decreases with plant investment in root nitrogen (associated with more metabolically active tissues) but also increases with construction of larger diameter roots which is often associated with greater plant reliance on mycorrhizal symbionts. Although theories linking organ structure and function suggest that root traits should play a role in modulating MRL, we found no correlation between root traits associated with structural defense (root tissue density and specific root length) and MRL. Moreover, fine root and leaf lifespan were globally unrelated, except among evergreen species, suggesting contrasting evolutionary selection between leaves and roots facing contrasting environmental influences above vs. belowground. At large geographic scales, MRL was typically longer at sites with lower mean annual temperature and higher mean annual precipitation. Overall, this synthesis uncovered several key ecophysiological covariates and environmental drivers of MRL, highlighting broad avenues for accurate parametrization of global biogeochemical models and the understanding of ecosystem response to global climate change.
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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.