Distal to proximal: a continuum of drivers shaping tree growth and carbon partitioning

IF 8.1 1区生物学 Q1 PLANT SCIENCES

New Phytologist Pub Date : 2025-09-04 DOI:10.1111/nph.70516

Antoine Cabon

{"title":"Distal to proximal: a continuum of drivers shaping tree growth and carbon partitioning","authors":"Antoine Cabon","doi":"10.1111/nph.70516","DOIUrl":null,"url":null,"abstract":"SummaryThe relationship between tree carbon (C) assimilation and growth is central to understanding tree functioning and forecasting forest C sequestration, yet remains unresolved. The long‐standing debate over C source vs sink limits to growth has yielded invaluable insight, but rests on a false dichotomy. Reframing this issue in terms of distal‐to‐proximal processes driving sink activity and placing it within a broader understanding of C partitioning offers new insights. Building on transport‐resistance theory, I outline a framework where plant resource economies shape spatial gradients of resource availability along the leaf‐to‐root axis, thereby regulating local sink activity. This spatially explicit, trait‐informed perspective aligns with optimality theory and provides a mechanistic link between C partitioning and the plant functional trait spectrum. By moving beyond binary limitations and emphasizing integrated physiological processes, this approach can improve understanding of tree function and biomass increment under climate change.","PeriodicalId":214,"journal":{"name":"New Phytologist","volume":"34 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":8.1000,"publicationDate":"2025-09-04","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":"0","resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":null,"PeriodicalName":"New Phytologist","FirstCategoryId":"99","ListUrlMain":"https://doi.org/10.1111/nph.70516","RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"生物学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":null,"EPubDate":"","PubModel":"","JCR":"Q1","JCRName":"PLANT SCIENCES","Score":null,"Total":0}

引用次数: 0

Abstract

SummaryThe relationship between tree carbon (C) assimilation and growth is central to understanding tree functioning and forecasting forest C sequestration, yet remains unresolved. The long‐standing debate over C source vs sink limits to growth has yielded invaluable insight, but rests on a false dichotomy. Reframing this issue in terms of distal‐to‐proximal processes driving sink activity and placing it within a broader understanding of C partitioning offers new insights. Building on transport‐resistance theory, I outline a framework where plant resource economies shape spatial gradients of resource availability along the leaf‐to‐root axis, thereby regulating local sink activity. This spatially explicit, trait‐informed perspective aligns with optimality theory and provides a mechanistic link between C partitioning and the plant functional trait spectrum. By moving beyond binary limitations and emphasizing integrated physiological processes, this approach can improve understanding of tree function and biomass increment under climate change.

查看原文本刊更多论文

从远端到近端：形成树木生长和碳分配的驱动因素的连续体

树木碳(C)同化与生长之间的关系对于理解树木功能和预测森林碳固存至关重要，但仍未得到解决。长期以来关于碳源和碳汇限制增长的争论已经产生了宝贵的见解，但这是建立在错误的二分法之上的。从驱动汇活动的远端到近端过程的角度重新构建这个问题，并将其置于对C划分的更广泛理解中，可以提供新的见解。在运输阻力理论的基础上，我概述了一个框架，其中植物资源经济沿着叶片到根轴塑造资源可用性的空间梯度，从而调节当地的汇活动。这种空间显性、性状信息视角与最优性理论一致，并提供了C分配与植物功能性状谱之间的机制联系。通过超越二元限制，强调综合生理过程，该方法可以提高对气候变化下树木功能和生物量增加的认识。

本文章由计算机程序翻译，如有差异，请以英文原文为准。

求助全文

约1分钟内获得全文求助全文

来源期刊

New Phytologist 生物-植物科学

自引率

5.30%

发文量

728

期刊介绍： New Phytologist is an international electronic journal published 24 times a year. It is owned by the New Phytologist Foundation, a non-profit-making charitable organization dedicated to promoting plant science. The journal publishes excellent, novel, rigorous, and timely research and scholarship in plant science and its applications. The articles cover topics in five sections: Physiology & Development, Environment, Interaction, Evolution, and Transformative Plant Biotechnology. These sections encompass intracellular processes, global environmental change, and encourage cross-disciplinary approaches. The journal recognizes the use of techniques from molecular and cell biology, functional genomics, modeling, and system-based approaches in plant science. Abstracting and Indexing Information for New Phytologist includes Academic Search, AgBiotech News & Information, Agroforestry Abstracts, Biochemistry & Biophysics Citation Index, Botanical Pesticides, CAB Abstracts®, Environment Index, Global Health, and Plant Breeding Abstracts, and others.