Ecological significance of plant biomass turnover

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In climates that have favourable and unfavourable seasons, plant behaviour shows seasonal patterns of growth and senescence. Responses to the seasons may vary from species to species, a well-known example being the contrasting habits of deciduous and evergreen trees with either autumn-senescing or overwintering leaves. There are indications that roots of wetland plants show a similar dichotomous choice of overwintering behavior: the entire root system either senesces in the autumn, or it largely survives the winter. But while the adaptive value of leaf turnover pattern in different environments is well understood, for roots less information is available. Not even the timing of root production and root senescence is well known. Nevertheless, recent research has shown that root behaviour can considerably differ from turnover patterns of the above-ground plant parts.