Mean age of carbon in fine roots from temperate forests and grasslands with different management

Fine roots are the most dynamic portion of a plant's root system and a major source of soil organic matter. By altering plant species diversity and composition, soil conditions and nutrient availability, and consequently belowground allocation and dynamics of root carbon (C) inputs, land-use and management changes may influence organic C storage in terrestrial ecosystems. In three German regions we measured fine root radiocarbon (14C) content to estimate the mean time since C in root tissues was fixed from the atmosphere in 54 grassland and forest plots with different management and soil conditions. Although root biomass was on average greater in grasslands 5.1 ± 0.8 g (mean ± SE, n = 27) than in forests 3.1 ± 0.5 g (n = 27), the mean age of C in fine roots in forests averaged 11.3 ± 1.8 yr and was significantly older and more variable compared to grasslands 1.7 ± 0.4 yr. We further found that management affects the mean age of fine root C in temperate grasslands mediated by changes in plant species diversity and composition. Fine root mean C age is positively correlated to plant diversity (r = 0.65) and to the number of perennial species (r = 0.77). In temperate grasslands the mean age of fine root C is also influenced by the study region mainly driven by differences in soil characteristics and climate which reflect in plant composition variations, with averages of 0.7 ± 0.1 yr (n = 9) on mostly organic sandy soils in northern Germany and of 1.8 ± 0.3 yr (n = 9) and 2.6 ± 0.3 (n = 9) in more silty and clayey soils respectively in central and southern Germany. Our results indicate an internal redistribution of C in perennial species and suggest linkages between fine root C age and management in grasslands. These findings improve our ability to predict and model belowground C fluxes across broader spatial scales.