Coupling of environmental factors and growth stages in simulation of maize biomass allocation

Purpose The patterns of biomass allocation are particularly important because it is related to crop yield, plant growth rate and plant survival in a changeable environment and constant growth. Our study aimed to develop a new model to describe the allocation strategies of maize.Methods We identified 73 sets of data about the effect of environmental factors (water factors and nutrient factors) on maize dry matter allocation to test the functional equilibrium theory. We then coupled the Friedlingstein model (describe the influence of environmental factors) and the Logistic model (describe the trend of biomass during growth) to describe the growth of maize in the vegetative growth stage. Model performance was evaluated with experimental data including soil volume moisture content (theta), soil temperature (T-s), leaf area index (LAI), and dry matter from a five-year maize experiment under two irrigation treatments.Results The shoot to root ratio decreased as the water and nutrient stress level increased. The average coefficient of determination (R-2) of three organs over five years was 0.92, 0.65, and 0.58 for the Coupled model, Friedlingstein model, and Logistic model, respectively. In addition, by an allometric analysis we found that the allocation strategies of maize were related to yield.Conclusion For maize, an annual crop, environmental factors and ontogeny are crucial. Hence, in the Coupled model we established, it was taken into account to present better simulation accuracy and possibly provide a new insight for yield prediction in the early growth stage.

Automated summary

The patterns of biomass allocation in maize were studied using a newly developed model. The study found that as water and nutrient stress levels increased, the shoot to root ratio decreased. The model showed good performance in predicting maize growth and biomass allocation, and indicated a relationship between allocation strategies and yield.