Interacting effects of soil fertility and atmospheric CO 2 on leaf area growth and carbon gain physiology in Populus × euramericana (Dode) Guinier

Two important processes which may limit productivity gains in forest ecosystems with rising atmospheric CO 2 are reduction in photosynthetic capacity following prolonged exposure to high CO 2 and diminution of positive growth responses when soil nutrients, particularly N, are limiting. To examine the interacting effects of soil fertility and CO 2 enrichment on photosynthesis and growth in trees we grew hybrid poplar ( Populus × euramericana ) for 158 d in the field at ambient and twice ambient CO 2 and in soil with low or high N availability. We measured the timing and rate of canopy development, the seasonal dynamics of leaf level photosynthetic capacity, respiration, and N and carbohydrate concentration, and final above- and belowground dry weight. Single leaf net CO 2 assimilation (A) increased at elevated CO 2 over the majority of the growing season in both fertility treatments. At high fertility, the maximum size of individual leaves, total leaf number, and seasonal leaf area duration (LAD) also increased at elevated CO 2 , leading to a 49% increase in total dry weight. In contrast, at low fertility leaf area growth was unaffected by CO 2 treatment. Total dry weight nonetheless increased 25% due to CO 2 effects on A. Photosynthetic capacity (A at constant internal p(CO 2 ), (( C 1 )) was reduced in high CO 2 plants after 100 d growth at low fertility and 135 d growth at high fertility. Analysis of A responses to changing C 1 indicated that this negative adjustment of photosynthesis was due to a reduction in the maximum rate of CO 2 fixation by Rubisco. Maximum rate of electron transport and phosphate regeneration capacity were either unaffected or declined at elevated CO 2 . Carbon dioxide effects on leaf respiration were most pronounced at high fertility, with increased respiration mid-season and no change (area basis) or reduced (mass basis) respiration late-season in elevated compared to ambient CO 2 plants. This temporal variation correlated with changes in leaf N concentration and leaf mass per area. Our results demonstrate the importance of considering both structural and physiological pathways of net C gain in predicting tree responses to rising CO 2 under conditions of suboptimal soil fertility.Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/65655/1/j.1469-8137.1995.tb04295.x.pd

Non-invasive cardiac imaging techniques and vascular tools for the assessment of cardiovascular disease in type 2 diabetes mellitus

Cardiovascular disease is the major cause of mortality in type 2 diabetes mellitus. The criteria for the selection of those asymptomatic patients with type 2 diabetes who should undergo cardiac screening and the therapeutic consequences of screening remain controversial. Non-invasive techniques as markers of atherosclerosis and myocardial ischaemia may aid risk stratification and the implementation of tailored therapy for the patient with type 2 diabetes. In the present article we review the literature on the implementation of non-invasive vascular tools and cardiac imaging techniques in this patient group. The value of these techniques as endpoints in clinical trials and as risk estimators in asymptomatic diabetic patients is discussed. Carotid intima–media thickness, arterial stiffness and flow-mediated dilation are abnormal long before the onset of type 2 diabetes. These vascular tools are therefore most likely to be useful for the identification of ‘at risk’ patients during the early stages of atherosclerotic disease. The additional value of these tools in risk stratification and tailored therapy in type 2 diabetes remains to be proven. Cardiac imaging techniques are more justified in individuals with a strong clinical suspicion of advanced coronary heart disease (CHD). Asymptomatic myocardial ischaemia can be detected by stress echocardiography and myocardial perfusion imaging. The more recently developed non-invasive multi-slice computed tomography angiography is recommended for exclusion of CHD, and can therefore be used to screen asymptomatic patients with type 2 diabetes, but has the associated disadvantages of high radiation exposure and costs. Therefore, we propose an algorithm for the screening of asymptomatic diabetic patients, the first step of which consists of coronary artery calcium score assessment and exercise ECG

Allocation of biomass and mineral elements in Melilotus segetalis (annual sweetclover): effects of NaCl salinity and plant age

9 pages, 6 figures, 2 tables, 26 references.The allocation of biomass and mineral elements (Na, K, Ca, P, N, Fe, Cu, Mn and Zn) during the ontogenetic cycle of annual sweetclover (Melilotus segetalis (Brot.) Ser.) growing under favourable and saline conditions has been studied. Plants were grown in a glasshouse, in pots with siliceous substrate and watered with Hoagland solution. Half were salinized by adding 170 mol m-3 NaCl (15 dS m-1) to the solution. Eleven harvests at 15 d intervals measured the dry weight distribution within the plant and the mineral composition. Allocation relative to biomass (ARB) in each plant organ, both under favourable and salt-stress conditions, was calculated for each mineral element. Biomass and mineral elements were allocated independently within M. segetalis, and the general pattern changed with age and was affected by salinity. Salt-stressed plants were smaller and invested proportionately more biomass in leaves. Na was accumulated in roots of young plants and excluded from leaves and fruits, whereas K was depleted from roots and accumulated in leaves and fruits. Immobile Ca accumulated in leaves, with age. Phloem-mobile P and N were translocated to flowers and fruits. Fe, Cu and Zn were diluted in leaves and not affected by salt, whereas Mn concentration increased with age and salinity. The switch to reproduction and increased demand for nutrients induced drastic changes in the allocation pattern of mineral elements. Salinity induced a re-allocation of biomass and mineral elements in all plant organs except the reproductive structures, as part of a whole-plant response to minimize salt toxic effects, to achieve osmotic adjustment, to preserve the reproductive output, and to compensate nutrient imbalance.This study was supported by a CICYT grant (AGR89/507).Peer reviewe

Legume species differ in the responses of their functional traits to plant diversity

Plants can respond to environmental impacts by variation in functional traits, thereby increasing their performance relative to neighbors. We hypothesized that trait adjustment should also occur in response to influences of the biotic environment, in particular different plant diversity of the community. We used 12 legume species as a model and assessed their variation in morphological, physiological, life-history and performance traits in experimental grasslands of different plant species (1, 2, 4, 8, 16 and 60) and functional group (1–4) numbers. Mean trait values and their variation in response to plant diversity varied among legume species and from trait to trait. The tall-growing Onobrychis viciifolia showed little trait variation in response to increasing plant diversity, whereas the species with shorter statures responded in apparently adaptive ways. The formation of longer shoots with elongated internodes, increased biomass allocation to supporting tissue at the cost of leaf mass, reduced branching, higher specific leaf areas and lower foliar d13C values indicated increasing efforts for light acquisition in more diverse communities. Although leaf nitrogen concentrations and shoot biomass:nitrogen ratios were not affected by increasing plant diversity, foliar d15N values of most legumes decreased and the application of the 15N natural abundance method suggested that they became more reliant on symbiotic N2 fixation. Some species formed fewer inflorescences and delayed flowering with increasing community diversity. The observed variation in functional traits generally indicated strategies of legumes to optimize light and nutrient capturing, but they were largely speciesdependent and only partly attributable to increasing canopy height and community biomass with increasing plant diversity. Thus, the analysis of individual plant species and their adjustment to growth conditions in communities of increasing plant diversity is essential to get a deeper insight into the mechanisms behind biodiversity–ecosystem functioning relationships