Sun, Yu; Robert, Christelle A. M.; Thakur, Madhav P (2024). Drought intensity and duration effects on morphological root traits vary across trait type and plant functional groups: a meta-analysis. BMC ecology and evolution, 24(1), p. 92. BioMed Central 10.1186/s12862-024-02275-6
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The increasing severity and frequency of drought pose serious threats to plant species worldwide. Yet, we lack a general understanding of how various intensities of droughts affect plant traits, in particular root traits. Here, using a meta-analysis of drought experiments (997 effect sizes from 76 papers), we investigate the effects of various intensities of droughts on some of the key morphological root traits. Our results show that root length, root mean diameter, and root area decline when drought is of severe or extreme intensity, whereas severe drought increases root tissue density. These patterns are most pronounced in trees compared to other plant functional groups. Moreover, the long duration of severe drought decreases root length in grasses and root mean diameter in legumes. The decline in root length and root diameter due to severe drought in trees was independent of drought duration. Our results suggest that morphological root traits respond strongly to increasing intensity of drought, which further depends on drought duration and may vary among plant functional groups. Our meta-analysis highlights the need for future studies to consider the interactive effects of drought intensity and drought duration for a better understanding of variable plant responses to drought.
Item Type: |
Journal Article (Original Article) |
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Division/Institute: |
08 Faculty of Science > Department of Biology > Institute of Ecology and Evolution (IEE) 08 Faculty of Science > Department of Biology > Institute of Ecology and Evolution (IEE) > Terrestrial Ecology 08 Faculty of Science > Department of Biology > Institute of Plant Sciences (IPS) > Biotic Interactions |
UniBE Contributor: |
Sun, Yu, Robert, Christelle Aurélie Maud, Thakur, Madhav Prakash |
Subjects: |
500 Science > 570 Life sciences; biology 500 Science > 590 Animals (Zoology) 500 Science > 580 Plants (Botany) |
ISSN: |
2730-7182 |
Publisher: |
BioMed Central |
Language: |
English |
Submitter: |
Pubmed Import |
Date Deposited: |
05 Jul 2024 12:14 |
Last Modified: |
29 Jul 2024 10:25 |
Publisher DOI: |
10.1186/s12862-024-02275-6 |
PubMed ID: |
38965481 |
Uncontrolled Keywords: |
Plant functional group Root length Root tissue density Severe drought |
BORIS DOI: |
10.48350/198556 |
URI: |
https://boris.unibe.ch/id/eprint/198556 |
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