Carbon and nitrogen allocation in trees

Abstract

Growth of trees and all plants depends upon maintaining a positive carbon balance despite continually changing environmental stresses. Under natural conditions, growth is commonly limited by several environmental stresses operating at the same time. Thus, growth is the summation of a plant's response to multiple environmental stresses (Chapin et al., 1987; Osmond et al., 1987). Light, carbon, water and nitrogen are fundamental factors most likely to limit growth. On a world-wide basis, water availability is probably the major factor limiting plant growth (Schulze et al., 1987). However, in many temperate and tropical forests, nitrogen availability is the most critical limiting factor (Agren, 1985a). Thus, information provided by studies of carbon and nitrogen metabolism and their interactions is necessary to understand plant growth.