Soil resource acquisition strategy modulates global plant nutrient and water economics

https://doi.org/10.1111/nph.70087

Alissar Cheaib, Jeff Chieppa, Evan A. Perkowski, Nicholas G. Smith
New Phytologist , vol. 246(4), 2025

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1111/nph.70087

Cite

APA Click to copy
Cheaib, A., Chieppa, J., Perkowski, E. A., & Smith, N. G. (2025). Soil resource acquisition strategy modulates global plant nutrient and water economics. New Phytologist , 246(4). https://doi.org/ https://doi.org/10.1111/nph.70087

Chicago/Turabian Click to copy
Cheaib, Alissar, Jeff Chieppa, Evan A. Perkowski, and Nicholas G. Smith. “Soil Resource Acquisition Strategy Modulates Global Plant Nutrient and Water Economics.” New Phytologist 246, no. 4 (2025).

MLA Click to copy
Cheaib, Alissar, et al. “Soil Resource Acquisition Strategy Modulates Global Plant Nutrient and Water Economics.” New Phytologist , vol. 246, no. 4, 2025, doi: https://doi.org/10.1111/nph.70087.

BibTeX Click to copy

@article{alissar2025a,
  title = {Soil resource acquisition strategy modulates global plant nutrient and water economics},
  year = {2025},
  issue = {4},
  journal = {New Phytologist },
  volume = {246},
  doi = { https://doi.org/10.1111/nph.70087},
  author = {Cheaib, Alissar and Chieppa, Jeff and Perkowski, Evan A. and Smith, Nicholas G.}
}

Summary

Natural selection favors growth by selecting a combination of plant traits that maximize photosynthetic CO2 assimilation at the lowest combined carbon costs of resource acquisition and use. We quantified how soil nutrient availability, plant nutrient acquisition strategies, and aridity modulate the variability in plant costs of nutrient acquisition relative to water acquisition (β).
We used an eco-evolutionary optimality framework and a global carbon isotope dataset to quantify β.
Under low soil nitrogen-to-carbon (N : C) ratios, a mining strategy (symbioses with ectomycorrhizal and ericoid mycorrhizal fungi) reduced β by mining organic nitrogen, compared with a scavenging strategy (symbioses with arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi). Conversely, under high N : C ratios, scavenging strategies reduced β by effectively scavenging soluble nitrogen, compared with mining strategies. N2-fixing plants did not exhibit reduced β under low N : C ratios compared with non-N2-fixing plants. Moisture increased β only in plants using a scavenging strategy, reflecting direct impacts of aridity on the carbon costs of maintaining transpiration in these plants. Nitrogen and phosphorus colimitation further modulated β.
Our findings provide a framework for simulating the variability of plant economics due to plant nutrient acquisition strategies in earth system models.