Evolutionary history resolves global organization of root functional traits

By Z. Ma, X. L. Xu, M. R. H. McCormack, Dali Guo, Xingliang Xu, R. Bardgett, D. Eissenstat, M. L. McCormack, L. Hedin. Nature, 2018

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Patterns in intraspecific variation in root traits are species‐specific along an elevation gradient (2020, background): “and high specific root length (SRL, root length per unit root dry mass), or thick roots reflecting higher mycorrhizal colonization rates (Chen et al., 2016; Kong et al., 2014; Ma et al., 2018) that favour uptake through greater hyphal length (McCormack & Iversen, 2019).”
Climate and soil nutrients differentially drive multidimensional fine root traits in ectomycorrhizal‐dominated alpine coniferous forests (2020, background): “Moreover, compared with thicker roots, thinner roots have faster turnover (Ma et al., 2018; Weemstra et al., 2016) and are more plastic in local resource patches (Chen et al., 2016; SalgueroGómez & Casper, 2011), which confers them a lower cost with respect to root proliferation in fluctuating…”
Root trait responses to drought are more heterogeneous than leaf trait responses (2020, background): “For example, Ma et al. (2018) found that root traits are strongly influenced by phylogeny; and Valverde-Barrantes, Freschet, Roumet, and Blackwood (2017) found them to be more phylogenetically structured than leaf TA B LE 2 Re su lts fr om g en er al li ne ar m od el s on le af a nd ro ot tr ai…”