Plant growth rates and seed size: A re-evaluation

Lindsay A. Turnbull; Christopher D. Philipson; Drew W. Purves; Rebecca L. Atkinson; Jennifer Cunniff; Anne Goodenough; Yann Hautier; Jennie Houghton; Toby R. Marthews; Colin P. Osborne; Cloé Paul-Victor; Karen E. Rose; Philippe Saner; Samuel H. Taylor; F. Ian Woodward; Andy Hector; Mark Rees

doi:10.1890/11-0261.1

Plant growth rates and seed size: A re-evaluation

Lindsay A. Turnbull, Christopher D. Philipson, Drew W. Purves, Rebecca L. Atkinson, Jennifer Cunniff, Anne Goodenough, Yann Hautier, Jennie Houghton, Toby R. Marthews, Colin P. Osborne, Cloé Paul-Victor, Karen E. Rose, Philippe Saner, Samuel H. Taylor, F. Ian Woodward, Andy Hector, Mark Rees

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › Academic › peer-review

Abstract

Small-seeded plant species are often reported to have high relative growth rate or RGR. However, because RGR declines as plants grow larger, small-seeded species could achieve higher RGR simply by virtue of their small size. In contrast, size-standardized growth rate or SGR factors out these size effects. Differences in SGR can thus only be due to differences in morphology, allocation, or physiology. We used nonlinear regression to calculate SGR for comparison with RGR for 10 groups of species spanning a wide range of life forms. We found that RGR was negatively correlated with seed mass in nearly all groups, but the relationship between SGR and seed mass was highly variable. We conclude that smallseeded species only sometimes possess additional adaptations for rapid growth over and above their general size advantage. © 2012 by the Ecological Society of America.

Original language	English
Pages (from-to)	1283-1289
Number of pages	7
Journal	Ecology
Volume	93
Issue number	6
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1890/11-0261.1
Publication status	Published - 1 Jun 2012
Externally published	Yes

Keywords

Life-history trade-offs
Nonlinear regression
Relative growth rate (RGR)
Size-standardized growth rate (SGR)
article
biological model
growth, development and aging
histology
nonlinear system
plant
plant seed

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Turnbull, L. A., Philipson, C. D., Purves, D. W., Atkinson, R. L., Cunniff, J., Goodenough, A., Hautier, Y., Houghton, J., Marthews, T. R., Osborne, C. P., Paul-Victor, C., Rose, K. E., Saner, P., Taylor, S. H., Woodward, F. I., Hector, A., & Rees, M. (2012). Plant growth rates and seed size: A re-evaluation. Ecology, 93(6), 1283-1289. https://doi.org/10.1890/11-0261.1

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title = "Plant growth rates and seed size: A re-evaluation",

abstract = "Small-seeded plant species are often reported to have high relative growth rate or RGR. However, because RGR declines as plants grow larger, small-seeded species could achieve higher RGR simply by virtue of their small size. In contrast, size-standardized growth rate or SGR factors out these size effects. Differences in SGR can thus only be due to differences in morphology, allocation, or physiology. We used nonlinear regression to calculate SGR for comparison with RGR for 10 groups of species spanning a wide range of life forms. We found that RGR was negatively correlated with seed mass in nearly all groups, but the relationship between SGR and seed mass was highly variable. We conclude that smallseeded species only sometimes possess additional adaptations for rapid growth over and above their general size advantage. {\textcopyright} 2012 by the Ecological Society of America.",

keywords = "Life-history trade-offs, Nonlinear regression, Relative growth rate (RGR), Size-standardized growth rate (SGR), article, biological model, growth, development and aging, histology, nonlinear system, plant, plant seed",

author = "Turnbull, {Lindsay A.} and Philipson, {Christopher D.} and Purves, {Drew W.} and Atkinson, {Rebecca L.} and Jennifer Cunniff and Anne Goodenough and Yann Hautier and Jennie Houghton and Marthews, {Toby R.} and Osborne, {Colin P.} and Clo{\'e} Paul-Victor and Rose, {Karen E.} and Philippe Saner and Taylor, {Samuel H.} and Woodward, {F. Ian} and Andy Hector and Mark Rees",

year = "2012",

month = jun,

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doi = "10.1890/11-0261.1",

language = "English",

volume = "93",

pages = "1283--1289",

journal = "Ecology",

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T1 - Plant growth rates and seed size: A re-evaluation

AU - Turnbull, Lindsay A.

AU - Philipson, Christopher D.

AU - Purves, Drew W.

AU - Atkinson, Rebecca L.

AU - Cunniff, Jennifer

AU - Goodenough, Anne

AU - Hautier, Yann

AU - Houghton, Jennie

AU - Marthews, Toby R.

AU - Osborne, Colin P.

AU - Paul-Victor, Cloé

AU - Rose, Karen E.

AU - Saner, Philippe

AU - Taylor, Samuel H.

AU - Woodward, F. Ian

AU - Hector, Andy

AU - Rees, Mark

PY - 2012/6/1

Y1 - 2012/6/1

N2 - Small-seeded plant species are often reported to have high relative growth rate or RGR. However, because RGR declines as plants grow larger, small-seeded species could achieve higher RGR simply by virtue of their small size. In contrast, size-standardized growth rate or SGR factors out these size effects. Differences in SGR can thus only be due to differences in morphology, allocation, or physiology. We used nonlinear regression to calculate SGR for comparison with RGR for 10 groups of species spanning a wide range of life forms. We found that RGR was negatively correlated with seed mass in nearly all groups, but the relationship between SGR and seed mass was highly variable. We conclude that smallseeded species only sometimes possess additional adaptations for rapid growth over and above their general size advantage. © 2012 by the Ecological Society of America.

AB - Small-seeded plant species are often reported to have high relative growth rate or RGR. However, because RGR declines as plants grow larger, small-seeded species could achieve higher RGR simply by virtue of their small size. In contrast, size-standardized growth rate or SGR factors out these size effects. Differences in SGR can thus only be due to differences in morphology, allocation, or physiology. We used nonlinear regression to calculate SGR for comparison with RGR for 10 groups of species spanning a wide range of life forms. We found that RGR was negatively correlated with seed mass in nearly all groups, but the relationship between SGR and seed mass was highly variable. We conclude that smallseeded species only sometimes possess additional adaptations for rapid growth over and above their general size advantage. © 2012 by the Ecological Society of America.

KW - Life-history trade-offs

KW - Nonlinear regression

KW - Relative growth rate (RGR)

KW - Size-standardized growth rate (SGR)

KW - article

KW - biological model

KW - growth, development and aging

KW - histology

KW - nonlinear system

KW - plant

KW - plant seed

U2 - 10.1890/11-0261.1

DO - 10.1890/11-0261.1

M3 - Article

SN - 0012-9658

VL - 93

SP - 1283

EP - 1289

JO - Ecology

JF - Ecology

IS - 6

ER -

Plant growth rates and seed size: A re-evaluation

Abstract

Keywords

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