Quantifying and understanding reproductive allocation schedules in plants

Authors:
Open Access
Publisher website
Google Scholar
Abstract
A plant's reproductive allocation (RA) schedule describes the fraction of surplus energy allocated to reproduction as it increases in size. While theorists useRAschedules as the connection between life history and energy allocation, little is known aboutRAschedules in real vegetation. Here we review what is known aboutRAschedules for perennial plants using studies either directly quantifyingRAor that collected data from which the shape of anRAschedule can be inferred. We also briefly review theoretical models describing factors by which variation inRAmay arise. We identified 34 studies from which aspects of anRAschedule could be inferred. Within those,RAschedules varied considerably across species: some species abruptly shift all resources from growth to reproduction; most others gradually shift resources into reproduction, but under a variety of graded schedules. Available data indicate the maximum fraction of energy allocated to production ranges from 0.1 to 1 and that shorter lived species tend to have higher initialRAand increase theirRAmore quickly than do longer‐lived species. Overall, our findings indicate, little data exist aboutRAschedules in perennial plants. Available data suggest a wide range of schedules across species. Collection of more data onRAschedules would enable a tighter integration between observation and a variety of models predicting optimal energy allocation, plant growth rates, and biogeochemical cycles.
Funding Information
  • Australian Research Council (DP110102086, FL100100080)

This publication has 105 references indexed in Scilit: