Zadworny, MarcinMccormack, M. LukeMucha, JoannaReich, Peter BOleksyn, Jacek2017-02-232017-02-232016Zadworny, M., McCormack, M. L., Mucha, J., Reich, P. B. and Oleksyn, J. (2016), Scots pine fine roots adjust along a 2000-km latitudinal climatic gradient. New Phytol, 212: 389–399. doi:10.1111/nph.14048https://hdl.handle.net/11299/184559Patterns of plant biomass allocation and functional adjustments along climatic gradients are poorly understood, particularly belowground. Generally, low temperatures suppress nutrient release and uptake, and forests under such conditions have a greater proportion of their biomass in roots. However, it is not clear whether ‘more roots’ means better capacity to acquire soil resources. Herein we quantified patterns of fine-root anatomy and their biomass distribution across Scots pine (Pinus sylvestris) populations both along a 2000-km latitudinal gradient and within a common garden experiment with a similar range of populations. We found that with decreasing mean temperature, a greater percentage of Scots pine root biomass was allocated to roots with higher potential absorptive capacity. Similar results were seen in the common experimental site, where cold-adapted populations produced roots with greater absorptive capacity than populations originating from warmer climates. These results demonstrate that plants growing in or originated from colder climates have more acquisitive roots, a trait that is likely adaptive in the face of the low resource availability typical of cold soils.engenetic control of root developmentlatitude gradientsroot cold-adaptationroots absorptive capacitScots pine (Pinus sylvestris)ecotypic variationArticle10.1111/nph.14048