Handling Editor: Adam Martin Abstract 1. Non-structural carbohydrates (NSCs, including soluble sugars and starch) are essential to support the growth and survival of terrestrial plants. Starch and sugars play different roles in multiple plant ecological functions such as drought tolerance, growth and plant defence, and several other processes which are being rapidly shaped by global environmental change. However, it is uncertain whether soluble sugars and starch show different responses across plant functional types, tissue types and treatment conditions (i.e. the intensity and duration of environmental variability) to global-change drivers. 2. Here based on a database of 275 plants (including 17 plant functional types), we conducted a meta-analysis to examine the effects of elevated atmospheric CO2 concentration (eCO2), nitrogen (N) addition, drought and warming on NSCs and its components. 3. We found NSCs responses to global environmental change were mainly driven by (a) soluble sugar changes in response to N addition and drought, as well as (b) starch changes in response to eCO2 and warming. The different responses between soluble sugars and starch were more evident under eCO2 and drought, especially in herbs or leaves. Interactive effects of multiple environmental change drivers on soluble sugars and starch were mainly additive. The divergent main and interactive effects on soluble sugars and starch depend on experimental conditions. For example, the starch responses to eCO2 and its interaction with N addition were the strongest in short-term experiments. 4. Overall, our study shows the divergent responses of soluble sugars and starch in terrestrial plants to different global environmental change drivers, suggesting a changed carbon sink–source balance in plants under future global changes. The findings also highlight that predicting plant functional changes into the future requires a mechanistic understanding of how NSCs and its components are linked to specific environmental change drivers.

中文翻译：

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全球环境变化驱动因素对陆生植物非结构性碳水化合物的影响

处理编辑：Adam Martin 摘要 1. 非结构性碳水化合物（NSC，包括可溶性糖和淀粉）对于支持陆生植物的生长和存活至关重要。淀粉和糖在多种植物生态功能中发挥着不同的作用，例如耐旱、生长和植物防御，以及受全球环境变化迅速影响的其他几个过程。然而，尚不确定可溶性糖和淀粉是否对植物功能类型、组织类型和处理条件（即环境变异的强度和持续时间）对全球变化驱动因素显示出不同的反应。2. 这里基于 275 种植物（包括 17 种植物功能类型）的数据库，我们进行了荟萃分析，以检查大气 CO2 浓度（eCO2）升高、氮（N）添加、干旱和变暖对 NSCs 及其成分的影响。3. 我们发现 NSCs 对全球环境变化的响应主要由 (a) 响应于 N 添加和干旱的可溶性糖变化以及 (b) 响应于 eCO2 和变暖的淀粉变化驱动。可溶性糖和淀粉之间的不同反应在 eCO2 和干旱下更为明显，尤其是在草本植物或叶子中。多种环境变化驱动因素对可溶性糖和淀粉的交互作用主要是加性的。对可溶性糖和淀粉的不同主要和交互作用取决于实验条件。例如，淀粉对 eCO2 的反应及其与 N 添加的相互作用在短期实验中最强。4. 总的来说，我们的研究显示了陆生植物中可溶性糖和淀粉对不同全球环境变化驱动因素的不同反应，表明未来全球变化下植物的碳汇-源平衡发生了变化。研究结果还强调，预测植物未来的功能变化需要对 NSC 及其成分如何与特定环境变化驱动因素相关联的机械理解。