Evolutionary history shapes plant carbon storage strategies worldwide
Chinese Academy of Sciences Headquarters
Two types of carbohydrates are important to plants—structural carbohydrates (which form cell walls) and nonstructural carbohydrates (NSCs). The latter group represents the plant's stored energy reserves, which can be used to survive cold or drought; regrow after damage; recover from insects and disease; produce new leaves; and flower and reproduce.
Many scientists have assumed that NSC storage strategies reflect current environmental conditions. However, a new global study led by YAN Zhengbing from the Institute of Botany of the Chinese Academy of Sciences emphasizes that evolutionary history plays a stronger role than contemporary environmental conditions in shaping NSC storage.
The study was published in Nature Ecology & Evolution.
The researchers compiled a global NSC database containing 29,386 field measurements during the growing season from 2,041 species across 1,016 sites. They then made the first global assessment of organ-specific NSC distribution, using current environmental data such as water availability, temperature, and solar radiation, as well as phylogenetic information. They found pronounced organ-specific NSC variability associated with latitudinal changes in environmental conditions: Specifically, leaf NSCs increased toward higher latitudes, whereas stem and root NSCs declined.
On the other hand, analysis of phylogenetic data demonstrated that closely related species shared similar NSC storage strategies. For example, along long-term evolutionary trajectories, more recently diverged taxa exhibited lower NSC concentrations in leaves, but stored higher NSC concentrations in stems and roots.
The researchers concluded that plant evolutionary history, including both phylogenetic relatedness and species identity, accounted for 55.9–77.1% of global NSC variability, substantially exceeding the effect of contemporary environmental conditions, which explained only 2.4–9.2% of the variance. This suggests that plant NSC storage is not merely a passive response to environmental change but is deeply rooted in evolutionary history, providing a benefit through diverse carbon storage strategies.
This study has important implications for understanding vegetation responses under climate change. While prevailing vegetation models view plant NSCs as a passive storage pool in response to climate, the researchers argued that evolutionary history must be incorporated into models of plant NSC storage and allocation.
Journal
Nature Ecology & Evolution
Article Title
Evolutionary history drives organ-specific variability in plant non-structural carbohydrates
Article Publication Date
13-Jul-2026
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