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We know surprisingly little about whole-tree nonstructural carbon (NSC; primarily sugars and starch) budgets. Even less well understood is the mixing between recent photosynthetic assimilates (new NSC) and previously stored reserves. And, NSC turnover times are poorly constrained. We characterized the distribution of NSC in the stemwood, branches, and roots of two temperate trees, and we used the continuous label offered by the radiocarbon (carbon-14, (14) C) bomb spike to estimate the mean age of NSC in different tissues. NSC in branches and the outermost stemwood growth rings had the (14) C signature of the current growing season. However, NSC in older aboveground and belowground tissues was enriched in (14) C, indicating that it was produced from older assimilates. Radial patterns of (14) C in stemwood NSC showed strong mixing of NSC across the youngest growth rings, with limited 'mixing in' of younger NSC to older rings. Sugars in the outermost five growth rings, accounting for two-thirds of the stemwood pool, had a mean age  5 yr. Our results are thus consistent with a previously-hypothesized two-pool ('fast' and 'slow' cycling NSC) model structure. These pools appear to be physically distinct.

Abstract: We surveyed and wounded forest-grown sugar maple (Acer saccharum Marsh.) trees in a long-term, replicated Ca manipulation study at the Hubbard Brook Experimental Forest in New Hampshire, USA. Plots [...]

Premise of research. The extant genera of cycads (order Cycadales) can be readily distinguished by the anatomy of their leaflets. In particular, the genus Dioon possesses a unique cellulosic fiber type in the leaflet mesophyll, not found in any other genus. We examine living material of all 15 species of Dioon to confirm preliminary observations and provide details of wall structure in comparison with fibers in the leaf axis.Methodology. Unembedded sample material was sectioned on a sliding microtome transversely and longitudinally, and standard histochemical tests were utilized to identify cell types. SEM was utilized to analyze fiber anatomy. Maceration of samples provided cell types for comparison.Pivotal results. All species of Dioon have the same configuration of cell types in the leaflets, the most conspicuous element being elongated fibers with multilamellate cellulosic cell walls. Such fibers do not appear in the leaf axis. This fiber type is seemingly unique among all cycad genera.Conclusions. Dioon leaflets possess a fiber type of distinctive wall structure, unique among the extant cycads. This finding clarifies an earlier report in which such fibers were described as “gelatinous fibers.” [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We tested the hypothesis that an age-dependent reduction in leaf hydraulic conductance (Kleaf) influences the timing of leaf senescence via limitation of the stomatal aperture on xylem compound delivery to leaves of tomato (Solanum lycopersicum L.), the tropical trees Anacardium excelsum Kunth, Pittoniotis trichantha Griseb, and the temperate trees Acer saccharum Marsh. and Quercus rubra L. The onset of leaf senescence was preceded by a decline in Kleaf in tomato and the tropical trees, but not in the temperate trees. Age-dependent changes in Kleaf in tomato were driven by a reduction in leaf vein density without a proportional increase in the xylem hydraulic supply. A decline in stomatal conductance accompanied Kleaf reduction with age in tomato but not in tropical and temperate tree species. Experimental manipulations that reduce the flow of xylem-transported compounds into leaves with open stomata induced early leaf senescence in tomato and A. excelsum, but not in P. trichantha, A. saccharum and Q. rubra leaves. We propose that in tomato, a reduction in Kleaf limits the delivery of xylem-transported compounds into the leaves, thus making them vulnerable to senescence. In the tropical evergreen tree A. excelsum, xylem-transported compounds may play a role in signalling the timing of senescence but are not under leaf hydraulic regulation; leaf senescence in the deciduous trees A. trichanta, A. saccharum and Q. rubra is not influenced by leaf vascular transport.