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Global Allocation Rules for Patterns of Biomass Partitioning in Seed Plants
Brian J. Enquist,12*Karl J. Niklas3
A general allometric model has been derived to predict
intraspecific and interspecific scaling relationships among seed plantleaf, stem, and root biomass. Analysis of a large compendium ofstanding organ biomass sampled across a broad sampling of taxainhabiting diverse ecological habitats supports the relationspredicted
by the model and defines the boundary conditions forabove- and
below-ground biomass partitioning. These canonicalbiomass relations
are insensitive to phyletic affiliation (conifersversus angiosperms)
and variation in averaged local environmentalconditions. The model
thus identifies and defines the limits thathave guided the
diversification of seed plant biomass allocationstrategies.
1 Department of Ecology and Evolutionary
Biology, University of Arizona, Tucson, AZ 87519, USA.
2 Center for Applied Biodiversity Science,
Conservation International, 1919 M Street N.W., Suite 600, Washington,
DC 20036, USA.
3 Department of Plant Biology,
Cornell University, Ithaca, NY 14853, USA.
*
To whom correspondence should be addressed. E-mail:
benquist{at}u.arizona.edu
The editors suggest the following Related Resources on Science sites:
In Science Magazine
TECHNICAL COMMENTS
Lawren Sack, Teodoro Marañón, Peter J. Grubb, Brian J. Enquist, and Karl J. Niklas (14 June 2002) Science296 (5575), 1923a.
[DOI: 10.1126/science.296.5575.1923a] |Full Text »|PDF »
PERSPECTIVES
M. Scot Zens and Campbell O. Webb (22 February 2002) Science295 (5559), 1475.
[DOI: 10.1126/science.1070130] |Summary »|Full Text »|PDF »
THIS ARTICLE HAS BEEN CITED BY OTHER ARTICLES:
Evidence for "diminishing returns" from the scaling of stem diameter and specific leaf area.
