Ecological significance of plant biomass turnover

在季节有利和不利的气候中，植物的行为表现出生长和衰老的季节性模式。不同物种对季节的反应可能不同，一个众所周知的例子是落叶和常绿树的不同习性，无论是秋季衰老的叶子还是越冬的叶子。有迹象表明，湿地植物的根在越冬行为上表现出类似的二分法选择：整个根系要么在秋季衰老，要么基本上存活下来过冬。但是，尽管叶周转模式在不同环境中的适应价值已被很好地理解，但对于根来说，可获得的信息较少。甚至连根产生和根衰老的时间也不是很清楚。然而，最近的研究表明，根的行为与植物地上部分的周转模式可能有很大的不同。

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.