Research article
02 Feb 2018
Research article | 02 Feb 2018
Variations and determinants of carbon content in plants: a global synthesis
Suhui Ma1, Feng He2, Di Tian3, Dongting Zou1, Zhengbing Yan1, Yulong Yang4, Tiancheng Zhou4, Kaiyue Huang4, Haihua Shen5, and Jingyun Fang1
Suhui Ma et al.
Suhui Ma1, Feng He2, Di Tian3, Dongting Zou1, Zhengbing Yan1, Yulong Yang4, Tiancheng Zhou4, Kaiyue Huang4, Haihua Shen5, and Jingyun Fang1
- 1Department of Ecology, College of Urban and Environmental Sciences, Peking University, Beijing 100871, China
- 2College of Life Sciences, University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100049, China
- 3College of Life Sciences, Capital Normal University, Beijing 100048, China
- 4College of Earth and Environmental Sciences, Lanzhou University, Lanzhou 730000, China
- 5State Key Laboratory of Vegetation and Environmental Change, Institute of Botany, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100093, China
- 1Department of Ecology, College of Urban and Environmental Sciences, Peking University, Beijing 100871, China
- 2College of Life Sciences, University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100049, China
- 3College of Life Sciences, Capital Normal University, Beijing 100048, China
- 4College of Earth and Environmental Sciences, Lanzhou University, Lanzhou 730000, China
- 5State Key Laboratory of Vegetation and Environmental Change, Institute of Botany, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100093, China
Correspondence: Jingyun Fang (jyfang@urban.pku.edu.cn)
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Received: 25 Jul 2017 – Discussion started: 06 Sep 2017 – Revised: 08 Dec 2017 – Accepted: 18 Dec 2017 – Published: 02 Feb 2018
Abstract. Plant carbon (C) content is one of the most important plant traits and is critical to the assessment of global C cycle and ecological stoichiometry; however, the global variations in plant C content remain poorly understood. In this study, we conducted a global analysis of the plant C content by synthesizing data from 4318 species to document specific values and their variation of the C content across plant organs and life forms. Plant organ C contents ranged from 45.0 % in reproductive organs to 47.9 % in stems at global scales, which were significantly lower than the widely employed canonical value of 50 %. Plant C content in leaves (global mean of 46.9 %) was higher than that in roots (45.6 %). Across life forms, woody plants exhibited higher C content than herbaceous plants. Conifers, relative to broad-leaved woody species, had higher C content in roots, leaves, and stems. Plant C content tended to show a decrease with increasing latitude. The life form explained more variation of the C content than climate. Our findings suggest that specific C content values of different organs and life forms developed in our study should be incorporated into the estimations of regional and global vegetation biomass C stocks.
