Stored root carbohydrates can maintain root respiration for extended periods

Aubrey, Doug P.; Teskey, Robert O.

doi:10.1111/nph.14972

Stored root carbohydrates can maintain root respiration for extended periods

Journal Article · Wed Dec 27 00:00:00 EST 2017 · New Phytologist

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1111/nph.14972· OSTI ID:1414991

Aubrey, Doug P. ^[1]; Teskey, Robert O. ^[2]

Savannah River Ecology Laboratory University of Georgia Aiken SC 29802 USA, Warnell School of Forestry and Natural Resources University of Georgia Athens GA 30602 USA
Warnell School of Forestry and Natural Resources University of Georgia Athens GA 30602 USA

Summary

Tight coupling between below‐ground autotrophic respiration and the availability of recently assimilated carbon (C) has become a paradigm in the ecophysiological literature. Here, we show that stored carbohydrates can decouple respiration from assimilation for prolonged periods by mobilizing reserves from transport roots to absorptive roots.

We permanently disrupted the below‐ground transfer of recently assimilated C using stem girdling and root trenching and measured soil CO ₂ efflux for over 1 yr in longleaf pine ( Pinus palustris ), a species that has large reserves of stored carbohydrates in roots.

Soil CO ₂ efflux was not influenced by girdling or trenching through the 14‐month observation period. Stored carbohydrate concentrations in absorptive roots were not affected by the disrupted supply of current photosynthate for over 1 yr; however, carbohydrate concentrations in transport roots decreased.

Our results indicate that root respiration can be decoupled from recent canopy assimilation and that stored carbohydrates can be mobilized from transport roots to absorptive roots to maintain respiration for over 1 yr. This refines the current paradigm that canopy assimilation and below‐ground respiration are tightly coupled and provides evidence of the mechanism and dynamics responsible for decoupling the above‐ and below‐ground processes.

View Accepted Manuscript (Publisher)

Sponsoring Organization:: USDOE

Grant/Contract Number:: EM0004391

OSTI ID:: 1414991

Alternate ID(s):: OSTI ID: 1541613

Journal Information:: New Phytologist, Journal Name: New Phytologist Journal Issue: 1 Vol. 218; ISSN 0028-646X

Publisher:: Wiley-BlackwellCopyright Statement

Country of Publication:: United Kingdom

Language:: English

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