Resolving the multiple controls of biomass production efficiency in woody plants

Resolving the multiple controls of biomass production efficiency in woody plants | Research Square window.SnipcartSettings = { analytics: { enabled: false } }; (function() { var accessVector = localStorage.getItem('access_vector') || ''; window.dataLayer = window.dataLayer || []; if (accessVector) { window.dataLayer.push({ user: { profile: { profileInfo: { snid: accessVector } } } }); } })(); (function(w,d,s,l,i){w[l]=w[l]||[];w[l].push({'gtm.start':new Date().getTime(),event:'gtm.js'});var f=d.getElementsByTagName(s)[0],j=d.createElement(s),dl=l!='dataLayer'?'&l='+l:'';j.async=true;j.src='https://www.googletagmanager.com/gtm.js?id='+i+dl;f.parentNode.insertBefore(j,f);})(window,document,'script','dataLayer','GTM-K279D39R'); Browse Preprints In Review Journals COVID-19 Preprints AJE Video Bytes Research Tools Research Promotion AJE Professional Editing AJE Rubriq About Preprint Platform In Review Editorial Policies Our Team Advisory Board Help Center Sign In Submit a Preprint Cite Share Download PDF Article Resolving the multiple controls of biomass production efficiency in woody plants Ruijie Ding, Rodolfo Nóbrega, Alessio Collalti, Iain Prentice This is a preprint; it has not been peer reviewed by a journal. https://doi.org/ 10.21203/rs.3.rs-7651827/v1 This work is licensed under a CC BY 4.0 License Status: Under Review Version 1 posted You are reading this latest preprint version Abstract Plants assimilate carbon through photosynthesis to support biomass production (BP), autotrophic respiration (Ra) and the synthesis of non-structural compounds. Biomass production efficiency (BPE), the fraction of assimilated carbon allocated to BP, is one key factor influencing ecosystems’ potential to store carbon. However there is no consensus on the controls of BPE, and even the sign of its response to growth temperature is unclear. By means of statistical hypothesis testing using the largest observational dataset to date on annual BPE (n = 514) from evergreen and deciduous woody plants, we confirm earlier findings that BPE declines with stand age and is greater in deciduous plants. However, we also show that BPE declines towards more organic, sandy, or alkaline soils; and responds differently to growing-season and winter temperatures – declining with both growing-season warmth and winter cold. Such a dual temperature response is consistent with additional carbon costs being incurred by the need for cold-hardening processes, and helps to resolve contradictory published reports of positive and negative effects of temperature on BPE. This study advances understanding of the global controls of BPE, and suggests a route towards the improved representation of plant growth in vegetation and land surface models. Earth and environmental sciences/Ecology/Ecosystem ecology Earth and environmental sciences/Ecology/Forest ecology Biological sciences/Plant sciences/Plant ecology Biological sciences/Ecology/Forest ecology Biological sciences/Plant sciences/Plant physiology Full Text Additional Declarations There is NO Competing Interest. Supplementary Files SupplementaryBPE2.0.docx Supplementary Information: Figures and Tables Cite Share Download PDF Status: Under Review Version 1 posted You are reading this latest preprint version Research Square lets you share your work early, gain feedback from the community, and start making changes to your manuscript prior to peer review in a journal. As a division of Research Square Company, we’re committed to making research communication faster, fairer, and more useful. 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Also discoverable on Platform About Our Team In Review Editorial Policies Advisory Board Help Center Resources Author Services Accessibility API Access RSS feed Manage Cookie Preferences © Research Square 2026 | ISSN 2693-5015 (online) Privacy Policy Terms of Service Do Not Sell My Personal Information {"props":{"pageProps":{"initialData":{"identity":"rs-7651827","acceptedTermsAndConditions":true,"allowDirectSubmit":false,"archivedVersions":[],"articleType":"Article","associatedPublications":[],"authors":[{"id":521190877,"identity":"a224d191-52ee-4bc7-b938-2385deca0cd6","order_by":0,"name":"Ruijie Ding","email":"data:image/png;base64,iVBORw0KGgoAAAANSUhEUgAAAZAAAAAyAQMAAABI0h/eAAAABlBMVEX///8AAABVwtN+AAAACXBIWXMAAA7EAAAOxAGVKw4bAAAAsElEQVRIiWNgGAWjYFCC5AMHPlRIQDkHiNKSlnhwxhnStOQoH+Ztg3GI0WLensNwmHeehTwD++EHzDxniNAic+btgYNzt0kYNvCkGTDz3CBCi4REXsKBt9skEoAuZGDm+UCUlhyDA7xzgFr435Cg5SBvA1CLBMgWohzG8yzh4IxjEoZtEs8MDs4hxvsS7MmHP3yoqZPn509++ODNMSK0wAEbA7EROQpGwSgYBaOAMAAASYo1i1HzWLAAAAAASUVORK5CYII=","orcid":"https://orcid.org/0000-0002-3848-8107","institution":"Imperial College London","correspondingAuthor":true,"prefix":"","firstName":"Ruijie","middleName":"","lastName":"Ding","suffix":""},{"id":521190878,"identity":"41a81eec-0426-4e1e-a45d-a1d191af19b0","order_by":1,"name":"Rodolfo Nóbrega","email":"","orcid":"","institution":"University of Bristol","correspondingAuthor":false,"prefix":"","firstName":"Rodolfo","middleName":"","lastName":"Nóbrega","suffix":""},{"id":521190879,"identity":"f670b2cd-19db-42de-a4f8-57b2ef6cd783","order_by":2,"name":"Alessio Collalti","email":"","orcid":"https://orcid.org/0000-0002-4980-8487","institution":"National Research Council of Italy, Institute for Agriculture and Forestry Systems in the Mediterranean, (CNR-ISAFOM), Perugia, Italy","correspondingAuthor":false,"prefix":"","firstName":"Alessio","middleName":"","lastName":"Collalti","suffix":""},{"id":521190880,"identity":"d2629ee2-b6a8-4387-b92c-f06f0c51d5bf","order_by":3,"name":"Iain Prentice","email":"","orcid":"https://orcid.org/0000-0002-1296-6764","institution":"Imperial College London","correspondingAuthor":false,"prefix":"","firstName":"Iain","middleName":"","lastName":"Prentice","suffix":""}],"badges":[],"createdAt":"2025-09-18 17:06:12","currentVersionCode":1,"declarations":"","doi":"10.21203/rs.3.rs-7651827/v1","doiUrl":"https://doi.org/10.21203/rs.3.rs-7651827/v1","draftVersion":[],"editorialEvents":[],"editorialNote":"","failedWorkflow":false,"files":[{"id":98421779,"identity":"fd36e821-71c2-4b87-b91b-4075cc5d6cee","added_by":"auto","created_at":"2025-12-17 16:29:26","extension":"pdf","order_by":1,"title":"","display":"","copyAsset":false,"role":"manuscript-pdf","size":1083001,"visible":true,"origin":"","legend":"Article File","description":"","filename":"manuscriptBPEnatureplantAV4.0.pdf","url":"https://assets-eu.researchsquare.com/files/rs-7651827/v1_covered_76a324a4-bb94-4d69-aa44-bd8aa54f88d5.pdf"},{"id":97930198,"identity":"596d8d46-bc52-4fa2-8c4d-9d123ef83223","added_by":"auto","created_at":"2025-12-10 23:39:55","extension":"docx","order_by":1,"title":"","display":"","copyAsset":false,"role":"supplement","size":980573,"visible":true,"origin":"","legend":"Supplementary Information: Figures and Tables","description":"","filename":"SupplementaryBPE2.0.docx","url":"https://assets-eu.researchsquare.com/files/rs-7651827/v1/d1c88729fe6e26bb2f5e1899.docx"}],"financialInterests":"There is \u003cb\u003eNO\u003c/b\u003e Competing Interest.","formattedTitle":"Resolving the multiple controls of biomass production efficiency in woody plants","fulltext":[],"fulltextSource":"","fullText":"","funders":[],"hasAdminPriorityOnWorkflow":false,"hasManuscriptDocX":false,"hasOptedInToPreprint":true,"hasPassedJournalQc":"","hasAnyPriority":false,"hideJournal":false,"highlight":"","institution":"","isAcceptedByJournal":false,"isAuthorSuppliedPdf":true,"isDeskRejected":"","isHiddenFromSearch":false,"isInQc":false,"isInWorkflow":false,"isPdf":true,"isPdfUpToDate":true,"isWithdrawnOrRetracted":false,"journal":{"display":true,"email":"[email protected]","identity":"nature-portfolio","isNatureJournal":true,"hasQc":false,"allowDirectSubmit":false,"externalIdentity":"","sideBox":"","snPcode":"","submissionUrl":"","title":"Nature Portfolio","twitterHandle":"","acdcEnabled":false,"dfaEnabled":false,"editorialSystem":"ejp","reportingPortfolio":"","inReviewEnabled":true,"inReviewRevisionsEnabled":false},"keywords":"","lastPublishedDoi":"10.21203/rs.3.rs-7651827/v1","lastPublishedDoiUrl":"https://doi.org/10.21203/rs.3.rs-7651827/v1","license":{"name":"CC BY 4.0","url":"https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/"},"manuscriptAbstract":"Plants assimilate carbon through photosynthesis to support biomass production (BP), autotrophic respiration (Ra) and the synthesis of non-structural compounds. 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