Abstract
Commonly used minirhizotron methodologies imply the introduction of rigid frames into the soil. This can be a problem if the hole presents an irregular surface, because the presence of gaps can modify the normal behaviour of roots growing along the soil-tube interface. Some authors have developed inflatable adaptations of the technique, but some of these still need the introduction of a rigid frame and others have the often added problem of the wall opaqueness. An inflatable adaptation of the minirhizotron technique has been developed to be used in stony soils. These kind of soils, common in many forests, as in mediterranean forested areas, would present too irregular surface holes to place rigid frames inside. The adaptation proposed allows the use of minirhizotrons in stony soils, with the added advantage of not having anything between the endoscope and the roots when recordings are made, which highly improves the image quality.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Bottomley P A, Rogers H H and Foster T H 1986 NMR imaging shows water distribution and transport in plant root systems in situ. Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA 83, 87–89.
Djema A 1995 Cuantificación de la biomasa y mineralomasa subterránea de un boesque de Quercus ilex L. Master of Science. Instituto Agronómico Mediterráneo de Zaragoza. Centro Internacional de Altos Estudios Agronómicos Mediterráneos (CIHEAM), Zaragoza, Spain.
Gijsman A J, Floris J, Van Noordwijk M and Brouwer G 1991 An inflatable minirhizotron system for root observations with improved soil/tube contact. Plant and Soil 134, 261–269.
Harper J L, Jones M and Sackville Hamilton N R 1991 The evolution of roots and the problems of analysing their behaviour. In Plant Root Growth. An Ecological Perspective. pp 3–22. Blackwell Scientific Publications.
Heeraman D A and Juma N G 1993 A comparision of minirhizotron, core and monolith methods for quantifying barley (Hordeum vulgare L) and fababean (Vicia faba L) root distribution. Plant and Soil 148, 29–41.
Hendrick R L and Pregitzer K S 1992 The demography of fine roots in a northern hardwood forest. Ecology 73, 1094–1104.
Huck M G and Taylor H M 1982 The rhizotron as a tool for root research. Adv. Agron. 35, 1–35.
Mackie-Dawson L A and Atkinson D 1991 Methodology for the study of roots in field experiments and the interpretation of results. In Plant Root Growth. An Ecological Perspective. pp 25–47. Blackwell Scientific Publications.
Merril S D 1992 Pressurized-wall minirhizotron for field observation of root growth dynamics. Agron. J. 84, 755–758
Nadelhoffer K J and Raich J W 1992 Fine root production estimates and belowground carbon allocation in forest ecosystems. Ecology 73, 1139–1147.
Russell R S 1977 Plant Root Systems: Their Function and Interaction with Soil. Mc Graw-Hill, London, UK. 298 p.
Serrasolsas i Doménech 1994 Fertilitat de sóls forestals afectats pel foc. Dinámica del nitrógen i del fósfor. PhD thesis. Universitat de Barcelona, Spain.
Taylor H M, Upchurch D R and McMichael B L 1990 Applications and limitations of rhizotrons and minirhizotrons for root studies. Plant and Soil 129, 29–35
Upchurch D R and Ritchie J T 1983 Root observations using a video recording system in minirhizotrons. Agron. J. 75, 1009–1015.
Vogt K A, Publicover D A, Bloomfield J, Perez J M, Vogt D J and Silver W L 1993 Belowground responses as indicators of environmental change. Environ. Exp. Bot. 33, 189–205.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
López, B., Sabaté, S. & Gracia, C. An inflatable minirhizotron system for stony soils. Plant Soil 179, 255–260 (1996). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00009335
Received:
Accepted:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00009335