Researchers examining annual growth rings across more than 3,100 species confirmed a consistent trade-off between rapid growth and plant longevity, according to a study published on Aug. 13 in Nature Communications. The dataset covers perennial herbaceous plants, small woody species, and lianas sampled across five continents.
Ecological theories have long predicted a fundamental trade-off between fast growth rates and the probability of reaching an advanced age. While tree-ring studies previously established this negative relationship in trees, large-scale evidence for other plant forms remained scarce because of methodological limitations. To address that gap, researchers measured annual growth rings formed by secondary thickening in perennial herbs across environments ranging from Arctic tundra to hot semideserts.
The findings demonstrated that slow growth associates with extended lifespan across diverse life forms and environmental conditions. Plant growth rates also showed a strong temperature dependence, which created a coupled relationship between longevity and temperature. The authors noted that this coupling carries direct implications for predicting vegetation dynamics, ecosystem stability, and terrestrial carbon residence times under climate changes.
Pierre Liancourt and Jiří Doležal jointly supervised the study, working with lead author Jan Binter and co-author Jan Altman across the Institute of Botany of the Czech Academy of Sciences and the University of South Bohemia. Additional co-authors contributed from institutions including the Swiss Federal Research Institute WSL, the University of Cambridge, Masaryk University, CzechGlobe, the University of Tübingen, and the University of Turin.
The Czech Science Foundation supported the project under grant GACR 24-11954S alongside the MSMT INTER-EXCELLENCE program and research project No. RVO 67985939. Eva Návratová and Iveta Kadlecová provided anatomical age determination support for the analysis.
