LIFE HISTORY STRATEGY INFLUENCES BIOMASS ALLOCATION IN RESPONSE TO LIMITING NUTRIENTS AND WATER IN AN ARID SYSTEM

摘要

The optimal partitioning theory (OPT) predicts that a plant should allocate relatively more biomass to the organs that acquire the most limiting resource. However, variation in biomass allocation among plant parts can also occur as a plant grows in size. As an alternative approach, allometric biomass partitioning theory (APT) asserts that plants should trade off their biomass between roots, stems and leaves, and this approach can minimize bias when comparing biomass allocation patterns by accounting for plant size in the analysis.