Plant family history shapes how they store sugar reserves
Xu WY, Gessler A, Peñuelas J, Zohner CM, Dietze MC
Climate Adaptation
The mix of trees in your backyard, whether it's an old oak line or a stand of younger maples, carries a deep evolutionary signature that shapes how much stored sugar and starch each one banks for winter and drought, regardless of the local weather.
Plants store energy as sugars and starches in their leaves, stems, and roots, kind of like a pantry for tough times. Researchers looked at almost 30,000 measurements from over 2,000 plant species around the world and found that a plant's ancient family tree explains more about its pantry size than the local climate does. Leaves from older lineages tend to pack in more reserves, while stems and roots from those same old lineages actually store less, showing that evolution shapes each plant part differently.
Key Findings
Analyzed 29,386 field measurements across 1,016 sites and 2,041 species during growing seasons
Leaf carbohydrate concentrations rise with latitude while stem and root concentrations fall, tied to water availability, temperature, and sunlight
Evolutionary divergence time explains 55.9-77.1% of global variation in carbon storage, more than current environmental conditions
chevron_right Technical Summary
Scientists analyzed nearly 30,000 measurements of sugar and starch storage across 2,000+ plant species and found that a plant's evolutionary lineage, not just its climate, largely determines how it stores carbon in its leaves, stems, and roots. This matters for predicting how forests and ecosystems will handle future carbon and climate change.
Abstract Preview
Original paper
Evolutionary history drives organ-specific variability in plant non-structural carbohydrates.
Non-structural carbohydrates (NSCs) serve as key metabolic substrates and carbon reserves in plants, playing a central role in regulating vegetation carbon dynamics. Despite their importance, the g...
open_in_new Read full abstractAbstract copyright held by the original publisher.
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