Effects of root diameter, branch order, soil depth and season of birth on fine root life span in five temperate tree species

Tree root system development alters forest soil properties, and differences in root diameter frequency and root length per soil volume reflect differences in root system function. In this study, the relationship between vertical distribution of very fine root and soil water content was investigated in intact tree and cut tree areas. The vertical distribution of root density with different diameter classes (very fine <0.5 mm and fine 0.5–2.0 mm) and soil water content were examined along a slope with two coniferous tree species, Cryptomeria japonica (L.f.) D. Don and Chamaecyparis obtusa (Siebold et Zucc.) Endl. The root biomass and length density of very fine roots at soil depth of 0–5 cm were higher in the Ch. obtusa intact tree plot than in the Cr. japonica intact plot. Tree cutting caused a reduction in the biomass and length of very fine roots at 0–5 cm soil depth, and an increment in soil water content at 5–30 cm soil depth of the Ch. obtusa cut tree plot one year after cutting. However, very fine root density of the Cr. japonica intact tree plot was quite low and the soil water content in post-harvest areas did not change. The increase in soil water content at 5–30 cm soil depth of the Ch. obtusa cut tree plot could be caused by the decrease in very fine roots at 0–5 cm soil depth. These results suggest that the distribution of soil water content was changed after tree cutting of Ch. obtusa by the channels generated by the decay of very fine roots. It was also shown that differences in root system characteristics among different tree species affect soil water properties after cutting.

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Elevated CO2 and O3 Effects on Fine-Root Life Span in Ponderosa Pine

Nature Precedings ◽

10.1038/npre.2009.3703.1 ◽

2009 ◽

Author(s):

Donald Phillips ◽

Mark Johnson ◽

David Tingey ◽

Marjorie Storm

Keyword(s):

Life Span ◽

Elevated Co2 ◽

Ponderosa Pine ◽

Fine Root ◽

Elevated Co2 And O3 ◽

Root Life Span

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Early positive effects of tree species richness on soil organic carbon accumulation in a large-scale forest biodiversity experiment

Journal of Plant Ecology ◽

10.1093/jpe/rtz026 ◽

2019 ◽

Vol 12 (5) ◽

pp. 882-893 ◽

Cited By ~ 8

Author(s):

Yin Li ◽

Helge Bruelheide ◽

Thomas Scholten ◽

Bernhard Schmid ◽

Zhenkai Sun ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Species Richness ◽

Organic Carbon ◽

Leaf Litter ◽

Tree Species ◽

Root Biomass ◽

Fine Root ◽

Soil Depth ◽

Fine Root Biomass ◽

Positive Effects ◽

Tree Species Richness

Abstract Aims Tree species richness has been reported to have positive effects on aboveground biomass and productivity, but little is known about its effects on soil organic carbon (SOC) accumulation. Methods To close this gap, we made use of a large biodiversity–ecosystem functioning experiment in subtropical China (BEF-China) and tested whether tree species richness enhanced SOC accumulation. In 2010 and 2015, vertically layered soil samples were taken to a depth of 30 cm from 57 plots ranging in tree species richness from one to eight species. Least squares-based linear models and analysis of variance were used to investigate tree diversity effects. Structural equation modeling was used to explore hypothesized indirect relationships between tree species richness, leaf-litter biomass, leaf-litter carbon content, fine-root biomass and SOC accumulation. Important Findings Overall, SOC content decreased by 5.7 and 1.1 g C kg−1 in the top 0–5 and 5–10 cm soil depth, respectively, but increased by 1.0 and 1.5 g C kg−1 in the deeper 10–20 and 20–30 cm soil depth, respectively. Converting SOC content to SOC stocks using measures of soil bulk density showed that tree species richness did enhance SOC accumulation in the different soil depths. These effects could only to some extent be explained by leaf-litter biomass and not by fine-root biomass. Our findings suggest that carbon storage in new forests in China could be increased by planting more diverse stands, with the potential to contribute to mitigation of climate warming.

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Endogenous and exogenous controls of root life span, mortality and nitrogen flux in a longleaf pine forest: root branch order predominates

Journal of Ecology ◽

10.1111/j.1365-2745.2008.01385.x ◽

2008 ◽

Vol 96 (4) ◽

pp. 737-745 ◽

Cited By ~ 119

Author(s):

Dali Guo ◽

Robert J. Mitchell ◽

Jennifer M. Withington ◽

Ping-Ping Fan ◽

Joseph J. Hendricks

Keyword(s):

Life Span ◽

Longleaf Pine ◽

Pine Forest ◽

Nitrogen Flux ◽

Branch Order ◽

Root Branch Order ◽

Root Life Span

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Estimating fine root longevity in a temperate Norway spruce forest using three independent methods

Functional Plant Biology ◽

10.1071/fp08195 ◽

2009 ◽

Vol 36 (1) ◽

pp. 11 ◽

Cited By ~ 40

Author(s):

Dirk Gaul ◽

Dietrich Hertel ◽

Christoph Leuschner

Keyword(s):

Norway Spruce ◽

Fine Root ◽

Soil Depth ◽

Mineral Soil ◽

Mean Value ◽

Root Diameter ◽

Organic Layer ◽

Mean Values ◽

Root Longevity ◽

Fine Root Longevity

The importance of root systems for C cycling depends crucially on fine root longevity. We investigated mean values for fine root longevity with root diameter, root C/N ratio and soil depth using radiocarbon (14C) analyses in a temperate Norway spruce [Picea abies (L.) Karst.] forest. In addition, we applied sequential soil coring and minirhizotron observations to estimate fine root longevity in the organic layer of the same stand. The mean radiocarbon age of C in fine roots increased with depth from 5 years in the organic layer to 13 years in 40–60 cm mineral soil depth. Similarly, the C/N ratios of fine root samples were lowest in the organic layer with a mean value of 24 and increased with soil depth. Roots >0.5 mm in diameter tended to live longer than those being <0.5 mm in diameter. By far the strongest variability in fine root longevity estimates was due to the chosen method of investigation, with radiocarbon analyses yielding much higher estimates (5.4 years) than sequential soil coring (0.9 years) and minirhizotron observations (0.7 years). We conclude that sequential soil coring and minirhizotron observations are likely to underestimate mean fine root longevity, and radiocarbon analyses may lead to an overestimation of mean root longevity.

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Discrepancy in fine root turnover estimates between diameter-based and branch-order-based approaches: a case study in two temperate tree species

Journal of Forestry Research ◽

10.1007/s11676-012-0297-6 ◽

2012 ◽

Vol 23 (4) ◽

pp. 575-581 ◽

Cited By ~ 10

Author(s):

Jing-jue Sun ◽

Jia-cun Gu ◽

Zheng-quan Wang

Keyword(s):

Tree Species ◽

Fine Root ◽

Root Turnover ◽

Branch Order ◽

Fine Root Turnover

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The Right-Skewed Distribution of Fine-Root Size in Three Temperate Forests in Northeastern China

Frontiers in Plant Science ◽

10.3389/fpls.2021.772463 ◽

2022 ◽

Vol 12 ◽

Author(s):

Cunguo Wang ◽

Ivano Brunner ◽

Junni Wang ◽

Wei Guo ◽

Zhenzhen Geng ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Tree Species ◽

Fine Roots ◽

Fine Root ◽

Root Diameter ◽

Northeastern China ◽

Skewed Distribution ◽

Root Number ◽

First Order ◽

Fine Root Length ◽

Root Size

Trees can build fine-root systems with high variation in root size (e.g., fine-root diameter) and root number (e.g., branching pattern) to optimize belowground resource acquisition in forest ecosystems. Compared with leaves, which are visible above ground, information about the distribution and inequality of fine-root size and about key associations between fine-root size and number is still limited. We collected 27,573 first-order fine-roots growing out of 3,848 second-order fine-roots, covering 51 tree species in three temperate forests (Changbai Mountain, CBS; Xianrendong, XRD; and Maoershan, MES) in Northeastern China. We investigated the distribution and inequality of fine-root length, diameter and area (fine-root size), and their trade-off with fine-root branching intensity and ratio (fine-root number). Our results showed a strong right-skewed distribution in first-order fine-root size across various tree species. Unimodal frequency distributions were observed in all three of the sampled forests for first-order fine-root length and area and in CBS and XRD for first-order fine-root diameter, whereas a marked bimodal frequency distribution of first-order fine-root diameter appeared in MES. Moreover, XRD had the highest and MES had the lowest inequality values (Gini coefficients) in first-order fine-root diameter. First-order fine-root size showed a consistently linear decline with increasing root number. Our findings suggest a common right-skewed distribution with unimodality or bimodality of fine-root size and a generalized trade-off between fine-root size and number across the temperate tree species. Our results will greatly improve our thorough understanding of the belowground resource acquisition strategies of temperate trees and forests.

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