BACKGROUND AND AIMS: Several lines of evidence indicate that carbohydrate storage in plant below-ground organs might be positively related to genome size because both these plant properties represent resource sinks and can affect cell size, cell cycle time, water-use efficiency and plant growth. However, plants adapted to disturbance, such as root sprouters, could be an exception because their strategy would require higher carbohydrate reserves to fuel biomass production but small genomes to complete their cell cycles faster. METHODS: We used data from a field survey to test the relationship between genome size and the probability of root sprouting ability in 172 Central European herbaceous species. Additionally, we conducted a pot experiment with 19 herbaceous species with different sprouting ability (nine congeneric pairs plus one species), and measured root non-structural carbohydrate concentrations and pools at the end of a growing season. KEY RESULTS: In the Central European flora, the probability of root sprouting ability was lower in large-genome species but this pattern was weak. In the pot experiment, both total non-structural and water-soluble carbohydrates (mainly fructans) were positively and non-linearly related to genome size, regardless of sprouting strategy. The concentrations of mono- and disaccharides and all carbohydrate pools showed no link to genome size, and starch was absent in large-genome species. The link between genome size and carbohydrate storage was less apparent at a small phylogenetic scale because we only observed a higher carbohydrate concentration in species with larger genomes for four of the species pairs. CONCLUSIONS: Root sprouters may have smaller genomes because of their frequent occurrence in dry and open habitats. Large-genome species with presumably large cells and vacuoles could accumulate more water-soluble carbohydrates at the end of the growing season to fuel their growth and perhaps protect vulnerable organs from freezing early in the next season.

• Klíčová slova
• Below-ground organ, carbon storage, cell size, fructan, genome size, root sprouting,
• MeSH
• délka genomu MeSH
• ekosystém * MeSH
• fylogeneze MeSH
• kořeny rostlin MeSH
• metabolismus sacharidů MeSH
• rostliny MeSH
• sacharidy * analýza   MeSH
• voda metabolismus   MeSH
• Publikační typ
• časopisecké články MeSH
• práce podpořená grantem MeSH
• Názvy látek
• sacharidy * MeSH
• voda MeSH

In the context of a recent massive increase in research on plant root functions and their impact on the environment, root ecologists currently face many important challenges to keep on generating cutting-edge, meaningful and integrated knowledge. Consideration of the below-ground components in plant and ecosystem studies has been consistently called for in recent decades, but methodology is disparate and sometimes inappropriate. This handbook, based on the collective effort of a large team of experts, will improve trait comparisons across studies and integration of information across databases by providing standardised methods and controlled vocabularies. It is meant to be used not only as starting point by students and scientists who desire working on below-ground ecosystems, but also by experts for consolidating and broadening their views on multiple aspects of root ecology. Beyond the classical compilation of measurement protocols, we have synthesised recommendations from the literature to provide key background knowledge useful for: (1) defining below-ground plant entities and giving keys for their meaningful dissection, classification and naming beyond the classical fine-root vs coarse-root approach; (2) considering the specificity of root research to produce sound laboratory and field data; (3) describing typical, but overlooked steps for studying roots (e.g. root handling, cleaning and storage); and (4) gathering metadata necessary for the interpretation of results and their reuse. Most importantly, all root traits have been introduced with some degree of ecological context that will be a foundation for understanding their ecological meaning, their typical use and uncertainties, and some methodological and conceptual perspectives for future research. Considering all of this, we urge readers not to solely extract protocol recommendations for trait measurements from this work, but to take a moment to read and reflect on the extensive information contained in this broader guide to root ecology, including sections I-VII and the many introductions to each section and root trait description. Finally, it is critical to understand that a major aim of this guide is to help break down barriers between the many subdisciplines of root ecology and ecophysiology, broaden researchers' views on the multiple aspects of root study and create favourable conditions for the inception of comprehensive experiments on the role of roots in plant and ecosystem functioning.

• Klíčová slova
• below-ground ecology, handbook, plant root functions, protocol, root classification, root ecology, root traits, trait measurements,
• MeSH
• databáze faktografické MeSH
• ekologie MeSH
• ekosystém * MeSH
• fenotyp MeSH
• rostliny * MeSH
• Publikační typ
• časopisecké články MeSH
• práce podpořená grantem MeSH
• přehledy MeSH
• Research Support, U.S. Gov't, Non-P.H.S. MeSH

BACKGROUND AND AIMS: Although the plant economic spectrum seeks to explain resource allocation strategies, carbohydrate storage is often omitted. Belowground storage organs are the centre of herb perennation, yet little is known about the role of their turnover, anatomy and carbohydrate storage in relation to the aboveground economic spectrum. METHODS: We collected aboveground traits associated with the economic spectrum, storage organ turnover traits, storage organ inner structure traits and storage carbohydrate concentrations for ~80 temperate meadow species. KEY RESULTS: The suites of belowground traits were largely independent of one another, but there was significant correlation of the aboveground traits with both inner structure and storage carbohydrates. Anatomical traits diverged according to leaf nitrogen concentration on the one hand and vessel area and dry matter content on the other; carbohydrates separated along gradients of leaf nitrogen concentration and plant height. CONCLUSIONS: Contrary to our expectations, aboveground traits and not storage organ turnover were correlated with anatomy and storage carbohydrates. Belowground traits associated with the aboveground economic spectrum also did not fall clearly within the fast-slow economic continuum, thus indicating the presence of a more complicated economic space. Our study implies that the generally overlooked role of storage within the plant economic spectrum represents an important dimension of plant strategy.

• Klíčová slova
• Anatomy, belowground, herbaceous plant, lignin, non-structural carbohydrates, persistence, plant economic spectrum, storage,
• MeSH
• fenotyp MeSH
• listy rostlin MeSH
• rostliny * MeSH
• sacharidy * MeSH
• Publikační typ
• časopisecké články MeSH
• práce podpořená grantem MeSH
• Názvy látek
• sacharidy * MeSH

BACKGROUND AND AIMS: Below-ground carbohydrate storage is considered an adaptation of plants aimed at regeneration after disturbance. A theoretical model by Iwasa and Kubo was empirically tested which predicted (1) that storage of carbohydrates scales allometrically with leaf biomass and (2) when the disturbance regime is relaxed, the ratio of storage to leaf biomass increases, as carbohydrates are not depleted by disturbance. METHODS: These ideas were tested on nine herbaceous species from a temperate meadow and the disturbance regime was manipulated to create recently abandoned and mown plots. Just before mowing in June and at the end of the season in October, plants with below-ground organs were sampled. The material was used to assess the pool of total non-structural carbohydrates and leaf biomass. KEY RESULTS: In half of the cases, a mostly isometric relationship between below-ground carbohydrate storage and leaf biomass in meadow plants was found. The ratio of below-ground carbohydrate storage to leaf biomass did not change when the disturbance regime was less intensive than that for which the plants were adapted. CONCLUSIONS: These findings (isometric scaling relationship between below-ground carbohydrate storage and leaf biomass; no effect of a relaxed disturbance regime) imply that storage in herbs is probably governed by factors other than just the disturbance regime applied once in a growing season.

• Klíčová slova
• Abandonment, TNC, below-ground organs, carbohydrate pool, disturbance, forbs, leaf biomass, meadow, mowing, storage to leaf biomass ratio,
• MeSH
• biomasa * MeSH
• ekosystém * MeSH
• listy rostlin fyziologie   MeSH
• Magnoliopsida fyziologie   MeSH
• metabolismus sacharidů * MeSH
• pastviny MeSH
• Publikační typ
• časopisecké články MeSH
• Geografické názvy
• Česká republika MeSH

Carbohydrate storage enables plants to tolerate both seasonally unfavourable conditions and recover from disturbance. Although short-term changes in storage levels due to disturbance are fairly well known, less is known about long-term changes in storage levels, especially in response to cessation of repeated disturbance. Additionally, whereas it is presumably the total amount (pool) of storage carbohydrate reserves that is of importance, typically carbohydrate concentrations are measured instead, as a proxy. We assessed changes in carbohydrate concentrations and pools in storage organs and changes in above- versus belowground biomass in response to mowing cessation in nine herbs from two meadows (dry and wet) at the (June) peak of vegetation development and the (October) growing season end 1 and 3 years after the change in the disturbance regime. We tested three hypotheses: (1) storage will increase with abandonment of mowing only in the first year after disturbance cessation, but not further increase subsequently, as high storage would hinder competitive ability; (2) storage will increase towards the end of the season in both disturbed and undisturbed plants; and (3) changes in carbohydrate concentrations are accurate predictors of changes in pools. Although species-specific changes in carbohydrate reserves occurred in the wet meadow, more general trends appeared in the dry meadow. There, plants accumulated higher carbohydrate reserves at the end of the season, especially in unmown plots. However, the reserves for plants in both disturbance regimes were the same at the growing season peak (June) in both examined years. The increase in storage of carbohydrates on unmown plots in October was manifested by increases of both storage organ biomass and carbohydrate concentration, whereas in mown plots, it was due only to increased carbohydrate concentration. Although concentrations and pools represent different aspects of plant carbohydrate economy, concentrations will represent short-term responses to changed disturbance regimes.

• Klíčová slova
• Carbohydrates, TNC concentration, TNC pool, management, meadow, storage organs,
• Publikační typ
• časopisecké články MeSH

Storage of carbohydrates in organs protected from disturbance is an important adaptation of plants in disturbed habitats. We carried out a field experiment involving 31 herbaceous plant species in two cultural meadows to find out whether roots or belowground stem-derived organs (stem bases, stem tubers and rhizomes) are the main storage organs, to study how reserves accumulate in individual organs in the long term (growing season) and to ascertain whether meadow abandonment affects the distribution of carbohydrate reserves in plants. We also conducted a 22-day pot experiment with four meadow plant species to determine how removal of roots and aboveground parts affects the use of carbohydrates stored in roots and stem-derived organs in the short term. From the long-term perspective of the field experiment, mowing had a positive effect on the concentration of carbohydrate reserves. From the short-term perspective of the pot experiment, however, the effect on concentration and pools of carbohydrates was negative. In the field experiment, carbohydrate concentrations before winter were generally higher than in mid-season, and more often higher in roots than in stem-derived organs. Roots and stem-derived organs of plants in the pot experiment were depleted similarly after both types of disturbance. Our results indicate a need for including both types of belowground plant organs in future studies of the carbon economy of plants from disturbed habitats.

• MeSH
• ekosystém * MeSH
• kořeny rostlin chemie   MeSH
• lipnicovité MeSH
• roční období MeSH
• rostliny chemie   MeSH
• sacharidy chemie   MeSH
• stonky rostlin chemie   MeSH
• uhlík MeSH
• Publikační typ
• časopisecké články MeSH
• práce podpořená grantem MeSH
• Geografické názvy
• Česká republika MeSH
• Názvy látek
• sacharidy MeSH
• uhlík MeSH