Assimilates hierarchy

The surface part of the sulfur cycle is connected with the functioning of the atmosphere-vegetation-soil system. Plants adsorb sulfur from the atmosphere in the form of S02 (fluxes C7 and C22) and assimilate sulfur from the soil in the form of SO4 (flux C15). In the hierarchy of soil processes, two levels can be selected defining the sulfur reservoirs as dead organics and S04 in soil . The transitions between them are described by flux C16 = b2STL, where the coefficient b2 = b2, b2 2 reflects the rate b2 of transition of sulfur contained in dead organics into the form assimilated by vegetation The coefficient b2>2 indicates the content of sulfur in dead plants. 

Various centers of metabolic activity exhibit a high demand for photosynthates such that there is competition within the plant for available resources. Thus, during the development of the plant, at any moment in time, there exists a dominance hierarchy for photosynthates. In the Jerusalem artichoke, photosynthetically fixed carbon resources are allocated among maintenance reactions, production of additional structural components, and deposition within specialized storage sites within the plant. The allocation hierarchy shifts not only as the plant develops, but also in diurnal cycles. Therefore, photosynthate allocation depends upon both timing and assimilate availability. 

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