We have developed an dynamic nutrient budget model that models root and shoot growth and resource allocation.
This model allows us to test what the optimum timing is for plants to allocate resources to reproduction, depending on what resource is limiting their growth.
The figure on the left shows that low phosphorus delays reproduction in simulated Arabidopsis, and increases allocation to root growth.
For details, see the publication in Annals of Botany
Nord. E.A, Shea, K., and Lynch, J.P. Optimizing Reproductive Phenology in a Two-Resource World: A Dynamic Allocation Model of Plant Growth Predicts Later Reproduction in Phosphorus Limited Plants. Annals of Botany. 2011.
Modeling Code (in R)
Zip archive, 12.2 KB
