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Perennial herbs of seasonal climates invest carbon into belowground storage organs (e.g. rhizomes) to support growth when photosynthetic acquisition cannot cover demands. An alternative explanation interprets storage allocation as surplus carbon that is undeployable for growth when plants are limited by nutrients/water. We analysed relative investments to rhizomes to see to which of these explanations they align, and asked whether they scale with biomass of aboveground organs in individual species and whether clonal growth traits, phenology or environmental conditions explain investment among populations or species. We measured biomass of rhizomes, aboveground stems and leaves in 20 temperate herbaceous perennial species, each at two localities, establishing allometric relationships for pairs of organs. We correlated relative rhizome investment with clonal traits, environmental gradients and phenology, across species. For pairs of organs, biomass typically scales isometrically. Interspecific allocation differences are largely explained by phenology. Neither interspecific nor intraspecific differences were explained by clonal traits or environment. Storage organs of perennial herbs do not comprise deposition of carbon surplus, but receive greater allocation in capital breeders (early-flowering), than among income breeders (late-flowering) relying on acquisition during growing season. Capital and income breeders in plants deserve further examination of benefits/costs., (© 2024 The Author(s). New Phytologist © 2024 New Phytologist Foundation.)

The 53rd Ontario Ecology, Ethology, and Evolution Colloquium (OE3C 2023) took place at Western University (London, Canada) on 25-27 May 2023, attracting 160 participants. This Meeting Review aims not only to recapitulate what was discussed during the event, but also to provide a brief synthesis of how biologists can move forward. The event was organised and run by graduate students and postdoctoral researchers from the Department of Biology at Western University. With three international keynote speakers, seventy talks, and fifty poster presentations, the OE3C 2023 spanned a wide range of contemporary research in Ecology, Ethology, and Evolution ("the 3 E's"). The colloquium theme was "Surviving the Anthropocene: future steps for the 3 E's under pressing planetary issues", which was complemented by illustrations depicting the fauna and flora of the "Canadian Anthropocene". Participants discussed what biologists and researchers can do regarding future climate and environmental catastrophes. The meeting culminated in a panel discussion comprising three climate change specialists who examined topics such as the Anthropocene and the Great acceleration, the living planet index, and carbon bombs. Although not exhaustive, these topics served as a starting point for the necessary discussions about how biologists can contribute to the fight for the survival of life on Earth., Competing Interests: Competing interests The authors declare no competing or financial interests., (© 2024. Published by The Company of Biologists Ltd.)

Background and Aims: Several lines of evidence indicate that carbohydrate storage in plant below-ground organs might be positively related to genome size because both these plant properties represent resource sinks and can affect cell size, cell cycle time, water-use efficiency and plant growth. However, plants adapted to disturbance, such as root sprouters, could be an exception because their strategy would require higher carbohydrate reserves to fuel biomass production but small genomes to complete their cell cycles faster., Methods: We used data from a field survey to test the relationship between genome size and the probability of root sprouting ability in 172 Central European herbaceous species. Additionally, we conducted a pot experiment with 19 herbaceous species with different sprouting ability (nine congeneric pairs plus one species), and measured root non-structural carbohydrate concentrations and pools at the end of a growing season., Key Results: In the Central European flora, the probability of root sprouting ability was lower in large-genome species but this pattern was weak. In the pot experiment, both total non-structural and water-soluble carbohydrates (mainly fructans) were positively and non-linearly related to genome size, regardless of sprouting strategy. The concentrations of mono- and disaccharides and all carbohydrate pools showed no link to genome size, and starch was absent in large-genome species. The link between genome size and carbohydrate storage was less apparent at a small phylogenetic scale because we only observed a higher carbohydrate concentration in species with larger genomes for four of the species pairs., Conclusions: Root sprouters may have smaller genomes because of their frequent occurrence in dry and open habitats. Large-genome species with presumably large cells and vacuoles could accumulate more water-soluble carbohydrates at the end of the growing season to fuel their growth and perhaps protect vulnerable organs from freezing early in the next season., (© The Author(s) 2023. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the Annals of Botany Company. All rights reserved. For permissions, please e-mail: journals.permissions@oup.com.)

A longstanding research divide exists in plant ecology: either focusing on plant clonality, with no ambition to address nonclonal plants, or focusing on all plants, ignoring that many ecological processes can be affected by the fact that some plants are clonal while others are not. This gap cascades into a lack of distinction and knowledge about the similarities and differences between clonal and nonclonal plants. Here we aim to bridge this gap by identifying areas that would benefit from the incorporation of clonal growth into one integrated research platform: namely, response to productivity and disturbance, biotic interactions, and population dynamics. We are convinced that this will provide a roadmap to gain valuable insights into the ecoevolutionary dynamics relevant to all plants., Competing Interests: Declaration of interests No interests are declared., (Copyright © 2021 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.)

Grassland ecosystems account for approximately 40% of terrestrial biomes globally. These communities are characterized by a large allocation to belowground biomass, often exceeding its aboveground counterpart. However, this biomass investment cannot be entirely attributed to the acquisitive function of roots. Grassland plants also allocate to non-acquisitive, stem-derived, belowground organs, such as rhizomes. These organs are responsible for the key plant functions of space occupancy, resprouting after damage, and seasonal rest. However, biomass investment to rhizomes has rarely been studied. Here we gathered community-level aboveground and rhizome biomass data for 52 temperate grasslands in Czech Republic (Central Europe), differing in management intensity. We found that rhizome biomass scaled linearly with aboveground biomass, and more intensive management disproportionally (negatively) affected rhizome biomass. This finding may have important implications for the persistence of temperate grassland plants and their provision of ecosystem services (e.g., soil carbon sequestration, soil stabilization) in relation to changing environments., (© 2021 by the Ecological Society of America.)

Background and Aims: Although the plant economic spectrum seeks to explain resource allocation strategies, carbohydrate storage is often omitted. Belowground storage organs are the centre of herb perennation, yet little is known about the role of their turnover, anatomy and carbohydrate storage in relation to the aboveground economic spectrum., Methods: We collected aboveground traits associated with the economic spectrum, storage organ turnover traits, storage organ inner structure traits and storage carbohydrate concentrations for ~80 temperate meadow species., Key Results: The suites of belowground traits were largely independent of one another, but there was significant correlation of the aboveground traits with both inner structure and storage carbohydrates. Anatomical traits diverged according to leaf nitrogen concentration on the one hand and vessel area and dry matter content on the other; carbohydrates separated along gradients of leaf nitrogen concentration and plant height., Conclusions: Contrary to our expectations, aboveground traits and not storage organ turnover were correlated with anatomy and storage carbohydrates. Belowground traits associated with the aboveground economic spectrum also did not fall clearly within the fast-slow economic continuum, thus indicating the presence of a more complicated economic space. Our study implies that the generally overlooked role of storage within the plant economic spectrum represents an important dimension of plant strategy., (© The Author(s) 2021. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the Annals of Botany Company. All rights reserved. For permissions, please e-mail: journals.permissions@oup.com.)

Background and Aims: Herbaceous plants can survive periods of prolonged freezing as below-ground structures or seed, which can be insulated from cold air by soil, litter or snow. Below-ground perennial structures vary in both form and their exposure to soil frost, and this structural variation thus may be important in determining the responses of plant communities to frost stress., Methods: We conducted a suite of snow removal experiments in a northern temperate old field over 3 years to examine the relative freezing responses of different plant functional groups based on below-ground perennation traits. A litter removal treatment was added in the third year. Species-level percentage cover data were recorded in May, June and September then pooled by functional group., Key Results: Snow removal decreased total plant cover, and this response was particularly strong and consistent among years for tap-rooted and rhizomatous species. The snow removal responses of cover for plants with root buds and new recruits from seed varied from positive to negative among years. The cover of rootstock plants consistently increased in response to snow removal. Rhizomatous species were generally the most vulnerable to litter removal., Conclusions: This study is the first to explore the effects of variation in frost severity on the responses of different plant perennation trait functional groups. The responses of herbaceous species to frost may become increasingly important in northern temperate regions in the coming decades as a result of declining snow cover and increasing temperature variability. Our results reveal substantial variation in responses among perennation trait functional groups, which could drive changes in species abundance in response to variation in soil frost., (© The Author(s) 2020. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the Annals of Botany Company. All rights reserved. For permissions, please e-mail: journals.permissions@oup.com.)