<abstract xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml">

The relationships between shoot and root traits can inform plant selection for restoration, forestry, and agriculture and help to identify relationships that inform plant productivity and enhance their performance. But the strength of coordination between above- and belowground morphological and physiological traits varies due to differences in edaphic properties and population variation. More assessments are needed to determine what conditions influence these relationships. So, we tested whether plant population and soil texture affect the relationship between shoot and root traits which have important ecological ramifications for competition and resource capture: shoot height and root tip production. We grew seedlings of two populations of <italic>Bromus tectorum</italic> due to is fast growing nature in a growth chamber in loam soil, sand, and clay. We found variation in height by plant population and the substrate used (<italic>R2</italic> = 0.44, <italic>p</italic> &lt; 0.0001), and variation in root tip production by the substrate used (<italic>R2</italic> = 0.33, <italic>p</italic> &lt; 0.0001). Importantly, we found that relationships between shoot height and root tip production varied by soil texture and population (<italic>R2</italic> = 0.54, <italic>p</italic> &lt; 0.0001), and growth in sand produced the strongest relationship and was the most water deficient substrate (<italic>R2</italic> = 0.32). This shows that screening populations under several environments influences appropriate plant selection.
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The relationships between shoot and root traits can inform plant selection for restoration, forestry, and agriculture and help to identify relationships that inform plant productivity and enhance their performance. But the strength of coordination between above- and belowground morphological and physiological traits varies due to differences in edaphic properties and population variation. More assessments are needed to determine what conditions influence these relationships. So, we tested whether plant population and soil texture affect the relationship between shoot and root traits which have important ecological ramifications for competition and resource capture: shoot height and root tip production. We grew seedlings of two populations of Bromus tectorum due to is fast growing nature in a growth chamber in loam soil, sand, and clay. We found variation in height by plant population and the substrate used (R2 = 0.44, p < 0.0001), and variation in root tip production by the substrate used (R2 = 0.33, p < 0.0001). Importantly, we found that relationships between shoot height and root tip production varied by soil texture and population (R2 = 0.54, p < 0.0001), and growth in sand produced the strongest relationship and was the most water deficient substrate (R2 = 0.32). This shows that screening populations under several environments influences appropriate plant selection.

Plasticity in response to soil texture affects the relationships between a shoot and root trait and responses vary by population

Genomics and Bioinformatics Research Unit; United States Department of Agriculture, Agricultural Research Service

Folia Oecologica

This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.

The relationships between shoot and root traits can inform plant selection for restoration, forestry, and agriculture and help to identify relationships that...

Plasticity in response to soil texture affects the relationships between a shoot and root trait and responses vary by population

Published Online: Jul 31, 2021

Page range: 199 - 204

Received: Jun 12, 2021

Accepted: Jul 01, 2021

DOI: https://doi.org/10.2478/foecol-2021-0020

Keywords
population variation, root tips, soil texture, trait relationships, water stress

© 2021 Alicia J. Foxx et al., published by Sciendo

This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.

Plasticity in response to soil texture affects the relationships between a shoot and root trait and responses vary by population

Published Online: Jul 31, 2021

Page range: 199 - 204

Received: Jun 12, 2021

Accepted: Jul 01, 2021

DOI: https://doi.org/10.2478/foecol-2021-0020

Keywordspopulation variation, root tips, soil texture, trait relationships, water stress

© 2021 Alicia J. Foxx et al., published by Sciendo

This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.

Keywords
population variation, root tips, soil texture, trait relationships, water stress