Convergent xylem widening among organs across diverse woody seedlings

Xylem conduit diameter (D max) of woody angiosperm adults scales with plant size and widens from the stem apex downwards. We hypothesized that, notwithstanding relative growth rate (RGR), growth form or leaf habit, woody seedling conduit D max scales linearly with plant size across species; this sca...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:The New phytologist 2019-06, Vol.222 (4), p.1873-1882
Main Authors: Zhong, Mengying, Castro-Díez, Pilar, Puyravaud, Jean-Philippe, Sterck, Frank J., Cornelissen, Johannes H. C.
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Allometry
Area
Body organs
Climate
Convergence
Growth rate
Herbivores
Leaf area
Leaves
Life history
Organs
Plant Leaves - physiology
Plant organs
plant size
Plant Stems - physiology
Regeneration
Regeneration (biological)
Regression Analysis
Scaling
Seedlings
Seedlings - physiology
Species
stem height
tissue density
vessel diameter
Water transport
Widening
Wood - physiology
Woody plants
Xylem
Xylem - physiology
xylem anatomy
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Summary:Xylem conduit diameter (D max) of woody angiosperm adults scales with plant size and widens from the stem apex downwards. We hypothesized that, notwithstanding relative growth rate (RGR), growth form or leaf habit, woody seedling conduit D max scales linearly with plant size across species; this scaling should be applicable to all vegetative organs, with consistent conduit widening from leaf via stem to main root and coupling with whole-leaf area and whole-stem xylem area. To test these hypotheses, organ-specific xylem anatomy traits and size-related traits in laboratory-grown seedlings were analyzed across 55 woody European species from cool-temperate and Mediterranean climates. As hypothesized, conduit D max of each organ showed similar scaling with plant size and consistent basipetal widening from the leaf midvein via the stem to the main root across species, independently of growth form, RGR and leaf habit. We also found a strong correlation between D max and average leaf area, and between stem xylem area and whole-plant leaf area. We conclude that seedlings of ecologically wide-ranging woody species converge in their allometric scaling of conduit diameters within and across plant organs. These relationships will contribute to modeling of water transport in woody vegetation that accounts for the whole life history from the trees’ regeneration phase to adulthood.
ISSN:0028-646X
1469-8137
DOI:10.1111/nph.15734