Potassium (K) availability in plant cells is critical for maintaining plant productivity across many terrestrial ecosystems. Yet, there is no comprehensive assessment of the mechanisms by which plants respond to potassium application in such conditions, despite the global challenge of escalating osmotic stress. Herein, we conducted a meta-analysis using data from 2381 paired observations to investigate plant responses to potassium application across various morphological, physiological, and biochemical parameters under both osmotic and non-osmotic stress. Globally, our results showed the significant effectiveness of potassium application in promoting plant productivity (e.g., +12~30% in total dry weight), elevating photosynthesis (+12~30%), and alleviating osmotic damage (e.g., -19~26% in malonaldehyde), particularly under osmotic stress. Moreover, we found evidence of interactive effects between osmotic stress and potassium on plant traits, which were more pronounced under drought than salt stress, and more evident in C3 than C4 plants. Our synthesis verifies a global potassium control over osmotic stress, and further offers valuable insights into its management and utilization in agriculture and restoration efforts.

中文翻译：

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施用钾消除了渗透胁迫对植物生理过程的影响：荟萃分析


植物细胞中的钾 （K） 可用性对于维持许多陆地生态系统中的植物生产力至关重要。然而，尽管渗透胁迫升级的全球挑战，但还没有对植物在这种情况下对钾施用的反应机制进行全面评估。在此，我们使用来自 2381 个配对观察的数据进行了荟萃分析，以研究植物在渗透和非渗透胁迫下各种形态、生理和生化参数对钾施用的反应。在全球范围内，我们的结果表明，施钾在提高植物生产力（例如，总干重 +12~30%）、提高光合作用 （+12~30%） 和减轻渗透损伤（例如，丙二醛中 -19~26%）方面具有显着效果，尤其是在渗透胁迫下。此外，我们发现了渗透胁迫和钾对植物性状交互影响的证据，这种效应在干旱下比盐胁迫下更明显，在 C3 中比在 C4 植物中更明显。我们的合成验证了全球钾对渗透胁迫的控制，并进一步为其在农业和恢复工作中的管理和利用提供了有价值的见解。