Pedro J. Aphalo 
,
Anna W. Schoettle,
Tarja Lehto
Leaf life span and the mobility of “non-mobile” mineral nutrients – the case of boron in conifers
Aphalo P. J., Schoettle A. W., Lehto T. (2002). Leaf life span and the mobility of “non-mobile” mineral nutrients – the case of boron in conifers. Silva Fennica vol. 36 no. 3 article id 532. https://doi.org/10.14214/sf.532
Abstract
Nutrient conservation is considered important for the adaptation of plants to infertile environments. The importance of leaf life spans in controlling mean residence time of nutrients in plants has usually been analyzed in relation to nutrients that can be retranslocated within the plant. Longer leaf life spans increase the mean residence time of all mineral nutrients, but for non-mobile nutrients long leaf life spans concurrently cause concentrations in tissues to increase with leaf age, and consequently may reduce non-mobile nutrient use efficiency. Here we analyze how the role of leaf life span is related to the mobility of nutrients within the plant. We use optimality concepts to derive testable hypotheses, and preliminarily test them for boron (B), a nutrient for which mobility varies among plant species. We review published and unpublished data and use a simple model to assess the quantitative importance of B retranslocation for the B budget of mature conifer forests and as a mechanism for avoiding toxicity.
Keywords
needle age;
conifers;
model;
boron;
leaf life span;
nutrient mobility;
toxicity
-
Aphalo,
Faculty of Forestry, University of Joensuu, P.O. Box 111, FIN-80101 Joensuu, Finland; Current address Department of Biological and Environmental Science, University of Jyväskylä, P.O. Box 35, FIN-40351 Jyväskylä, Finland.
E-mail
pedro.aphalo@jyu.fi
- Schoettle, Rocky Mountain Research Station, 240 West Prospect Road, Fort Collins, CO 80526, USA E-mail aws@nn.us
- Lehto, Faculty of Forestry, University of Joensuu, P.O. Box 111, FIN-80101 Joensuu, Finland E-mail tl@nn.fi
Received 30 June 2000 Accepted 30 May 2002 Published 31 December 2002
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