Seasonal patterns of carbon assimilation and allocation of a summer-green forest herb, Parasenecio auriculata (Senecioneae; Asteraceae)

Summer-green herbs inhabiting deciduous forests often put out aerial shoots under bright conditions before tree-canopy closure and grow until late summer under the closed canopy. Some of them produce leaves continuously even after the initiation of canopy closure, indicating an exploitation of the l...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Plant ecology 2010-09, Vol.210 (1), p.181-193
Main Authors: Ida, Takashi Y, Kudo, Gaku
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Applied Ecology
Biodiversity
Biomedical and Life Sciences
Botany
Canopies
Carbon
Carbon translocation
Community & Population Ecology
Continuous leaf production
Deciduous forests
Ecology
Flowering
Forest canopy
Fruiting
Growing seasons
Herbs
Leaves
Life Sciences
Light availability
Photosynthesis
Plant Ecology
Plant growth
Plants
resource allocation
Seasons
Shoots
Summer
Summer-green herb
Terrestial Ecology
Tubers
Understory
Vegetation canopies
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Summary:Summer-green herbs inhabiting deciduous forests often put out aerial shoots under bright conditions before tree-canopy closure and grow until late summer under the closed canopy. Some of them produce leaves continuously even after the initiation of canopy closure, indicating an exploitation of the low light period. The manner of carbon assimilation during bright and shade periods within a growth season should reflect the seasonal patterns of vegetative growth and reproductive allocation of individual species. We examined the seasonal patterns of assimilation, partitioning of photosynthate between reproduction and storage, and the budget of reproduction of a perennial understory herb, Parasenecio auriculata. Although photosynthetic rates per unit leaf area decreased with the seasonal reduction in light level, net assimilation at the whole-plant level was maintained at a high level even after canopy closure owing to the increase in the total leaf area. Stored resource in tubers contributed to the rapid development of aerial shoots in the early season, and annual tuber growth was completed before flowering. Instant photosynthetic products considerably contributed to the maintenance of flowers but not to fruit development because of low assimilation rate during fruiting. These findings indicated that carbon assimilation during flowering contributes to sexual reproduction without influencing the development of storage organs. Stable carbon assimilation over summer by shade-acclimatized leaves enabled the maintenance of high productivity associated with high sexual reproduction.
ISSN:1385-0237
1573-5052
DOI:10.1007/s11258-010-9748-3