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Comparison of ingrowth cores and ingrowth meshes in root studies: 3 years of data on Pinus pinaster and its understory

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Pine fine root biomass, live fraction and specific root length studied after collection with ingrowth cores do not correspond with those collected with ingrowth meshes.

Abstract

Root studies are a challenging task, yet they are primordial to improve our understanding of biogeochemical cycles in many ecosystems. Methods reducing operator time and minimizing disturbance while permitting adequate assessment of root dimensions in space and time would naturally be of great relevance. Recently, ingrowth meshes have been proposed as a valuable alternative to existing methods, deployable in remote areas and potentially yielding smaller disturbances along with a reduction in time spent per sample. In this study, we used flexible mesh material in Pinus pinaster production forests. The mesh material (pore size 6 by 6 mm) was either applied as cores (15 cm deep, 8 cm diameter) or as linear meshes (15 cm deep, 50 cm long), and left in soils for 9, 24, or 36 months. Roots were retrieved from both devices and separated over plant species (pine and understory species), diameter class and vitality (live or dead). We expected 1) improved assessment of larger diameter roots in the linear meshes due to a larger mesh surface and 2) less disturbance of the soil for the linear meshes. Results indicate that most patterns were similar between both devices and species, but the meshes resulted in lower ingrowth for all diameter classes, and the cores better reflected the standing biomass. The larger surface of the linear meshes resulted in larger disturbance and did not permit to reduce time per sample. Future research may target ingrowth meshes of reduced size and perhaps of more rigid material.

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Acknowledgments

The authors would like to express their gratitude to Patrick Pastuzka and Laurent Severin of the INRA UE unit at Pierroton, Didier Canteloup, Jean-Michel Dumas and Eric Alger of the state forestry service ONF, Dominique Merzeau of the Centre de Productivité et d’Action Forestière d’Aquitaine, the owner of the forest site near Belin-Beliet and the Compagnie des Landes in helping us in finding sites, respectively, and authorizing us for this work to using the forest sites they manage or own. We are further acknowledging the many skilled hands in the field at installation, monitoring and harvest: David Achat, Alice André, Nathalie Gallegos, Anne Gallet-Budynek, Céline Gire, Sylvie Milin, Sylvie Niollet, Luc Puzos and Stéphane Thunot. The region of Aquitaine and the Bordeaux Sciences Agro engineering school are thanked for the post-doctoral grant allowing Frida Andreasson a 2 year stay in our unit. We also thank extensive and constructive comments of two anonymous reviewers to an earlier version of this manuscript. Finally, we are grateful to the COST actions E38 “Woody Root processes” and FP0803 “Belowground carbon turnover in European forests” during which the outlay of this study was conceptually initiated and which fuelled us with valuable ideas.

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Correspondence to Frida Andreasson.

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Communicated by T. Koike and K. Noguchi.

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Andreasson, F., Gonzalez, M., Augusto, L. et al. Comparison of ingrowth cores and ingrowth meshes in root studies: 3 years of data on Pinus pinaster and its understory. Trees 30, 555–570 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00468-015-1256-6

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00468-015-1256-6

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