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Contrasting Dynamics in the Fine Root Mass of Angiosperm and Gymnosperm Forests on the Global Scale

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Abstract

Predicting forest carbon cycling requires the accurate assessment of large-scale patterns of fine root seasonal dynamics, and thorough comprehension of how biotic and abiotic factors exert direct and/or indirect control over the variation in fine root biomass (FB), necromass stocks (FN) and the biomass/necromass ratio (FBN). We analyzed 67 studies with 1119 observations of FB and FN and used structural equation modeling to examine the relative contributions of the forest biome (boreal versus temperate versus tropical), evolutionary division (angiosperms versus gymnosperms), climate (monthly versus annual), edaphic and geomorphic properties in determining FB, FN and FBN. Temperate forests had a greater FB but lower FN than tropical and boreal forests. Compared with angiosperm forests, gymnosperm forests had a significantly smaller FB and FN but a similar FBN on the global scale. Angiosperm forests had different seasonal patterns of FB, FN and FBN compared to gymnosperm forests in tropical and temperate biomes throughout a year. Climatic and edaphic variables had dominant effects on fine root dynamics. Geomorphic properties directly and/or indirectly mediated fine root dynamics by influencing soil and climatic conditions. Temperature and precipitation at the monthly and annual scales exhibited strong direct effects on FB, FN and FBN, and indirect effects mediated through soil properties. Our synthesis provides evidence that responses of fine roots to environmental factors vary with both evolutionary division and forest biome, suggesting that future climate changes may alter the competition relations among co-existing species (for example, angiosperms versus gymnosperms), belowground carbon stocks, and also ecosystem composition and diversity.

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The data used in the paper will be downloaded from FRED (https://roots.ornl.gov/).

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Acknowledgements

This work was financially supported by the National Key R&D Program of China (2019YFA0607301) and the Natural Science Foundation of China (41971052 and 42171051). We thank Melissa Dawes for providing linguistic suggestions and corrections.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Key Laboratory of Geographical Processes and Ecological Security in Changbai Mountains, Ministry of Education, School of Geographical Sciences, Northeast Normal University, Changchun, 130024, China

    Cunguo Wang, Shengwei Zong & Mai-He Li

  2. Swiss Federal Institute for Forest, Snow and Landscape Research WSL, Zuercherstrasse 111, CH-8903, Birmensdorf, Switzerland

    Ivano Brunner & Mai-He Li

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  1. Cunguo Wang
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  2. Ivano Brunner
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Correspondence to Cunguo Wang.

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Author Contribution: CW designed study, analyzed data and wrote paper; IB analyzed data and wrote paper; SZ performed research and analyzed data; MHL designed study and wrote paper.

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Wang, C., Brunner, I., Zong, S. et al. Contrasting Dynamics in the Fine Root Mass of Angiosperm and Gymnosperm Forests on the Global Scale. Ecosystems 26, 428–441 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10021-022-00766-5

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