RESUMO
Allocation of recent photoassimilates of juvenile beech and spruce in response to twice-ambient ozone (2 × O(3)) and plant competition (i.e. intra vs. inter-specific) was examined in a phytotron study. To this end, we employed continuous (13)CO(2)/(12)CO(2) labeling during late summer and pursued tracer kinetics in CO(2) released from stems. In beech, allocation of recent photoassimilates to stems was significantly lowered under 2 × O(3) and increased in spruce when grown in mixed culture. As total tree biomass was not yet affected by the treatments, C allocation reflected incipient tree responses providing the mechanistic basis for biomass partitioning as observed in longer experiments. Compartmental modeling characterized functional properties of substrate pools supplying respiratory C demand. Respiration of spruce appeared to be exclusively supplied by recent photoassimilates. In beech, older C, putatively located in stem parenchyma cells, was a major source of respiratory substrate, reflecting the fundamental anatomical disparity between angiosperm beech and gymnosperm spruce.