Non‐structural carbohydrates (NSC) are crucial for forest resilience, but little is known regarding the role of bark in NSC storage. However, bark's abundance in woody stems and its large living fraction make it potentially key for NSC storage. We quantified total NSC, soluble sugar (SS) and starch concentrations in the most living region of bark (inner bark, IB), and sapwood of twigs, trunks and roots of 45 woody species from three contrasting tropical climates spanning global extremes of bark diversity and wide phylogenetic diversity. NSC concentrations were similar (total NSC, starch) or higher (SS) in IB than wood, with concentrations co‐varying strongly. NSC concentrations varied widely across organs and species within communities and were not significantly affected by climate, leaf habit or the presence of photosynthetic bark. Starch concentration tended to increase with density, but only in wood. IB contributed substantially to NSC storage, accounting for 17–36% of total NSC, 23–47% of SS and 15–33% of starch pools. Further examination of the drivers of variation in IB NSC concentration, and taking into account the substantial contribution of IB to NSC pools, will be crucial to understand the role of storage in plant environmental adaptation.

中文翻译：

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内树皮是三个热带木本植物群落中非结构性碳水化合物储存的重要组织

非结构性碳水化合物（NSC）对于森林的复原力至关重要，但对于树皮在NSC储存中的作用知之甚少。但是，树皮中木质茎的丰富度和丰富的活体成分使其成为NSC储存的潜在关键。我们通过覆盖全球极端树皮多样性的三种热带气候对比，对最活跃的树皮（内树皮，IB）以及45种木本植物的树枝，树干和根的边材定量了NSC，可溶性糖（SS）和淀粉的总浓度和广泛的系统发育多样性。IB中的NSC浓度（木材中总NSC，淀粉）或更高（SS）比木材高，且浓度变化很大。NSC的浓度在社区内的各个器官和物种之间差异很大，并且不受气候，叶习性或光合作用树皮的影响。淀粉浓度倾向于随密度增加而增加，但仅在木材中。IB大大促进了NSC的储存，占总NSC的17-36％，SS的23-47％和淀粉库的15-33％。进一步检查IB NSC浓度变化的驱动因素，并考虑IB对NSC池的重大贡献，对于了解储存在植物环境适应中的作用至关重要。