Abstract
Carbon rhizodeposition and root respiration during eight development stages of Lolium perenne were studied on a loamy Gleyic Cambisol by 14CO2 pulse labelling of shoots in a two compartment chamber under controlled laboratory conditions. Total 14CO2 efflux from the soil (root respiration, microbial respiration of exudates and dead roots) in the first 8 days after 14C pulse labelling decreased during plant development from 14 to 6.5% of the total 14C input. Root respiration accounted for was between 1.5 and 6.5% while microbial respiration of easily available rhizodeposits and dead root remains were between 2 and 8% of the 14C input. Both respiration processes were found to decline during plant development, but only the decrease in root respiration was significant. The average contribution of root respiration to total 14CO2 efflux from the soil was approximately 41%. Close correlation was found between cumulative 14CO2 efflux from the soil and the time when maximum 14CO2 efflux occurred (r=0.97). The average total of CO2 Defflux from the soil with Lolium perenne was approximately 21 μg C-CO2 d−1 g−1. It increased slightly during plant development. The contribution of plant roots to total CO2 efflux from the soil, calculated as the remainder from respiration of bare soil, was about 51%. The total 14C content after 8 days in the soil with roots ranged from 8.2 to 27.7% of assimilated carbon. This corresponds to an underground carbon transfer by Lolium perenne of 6–10 g C m−2 at the beginning of the growth period and 50–65 g C m−2 towards the end of the growth period. The conventional root washing procedure was found to be inadequate for the determination of total carbon input in the soil because 90% of the young fine roots can be lost.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Black C A (Ed.) 1965 Methods of Soil Analysis, Part 2, American Society of Agronomy, Inc. Publisher, Madison, Wisconsin, USA. 1562–1565.
Cheng W, Coleman D C, Carrol C R and Hoffman C A 1993 In situ measurement of root respiration and soluble C concentrations in the rhizosphere. Soil Biol. Biochem. 25, 1189–1196.
FAO-UNESCO 1990 Soil Map of the World. UNESCO, Rome.
Gregory P J and Atwell B J 1991 The fate of carbon in pulse labelled crops of barley and wheat. Plant Soil 136, 205–213.
Franko U 1995 Berechnung der Kohlenstoffakkumulation in Abhängigkeit von Klima, Textur und Fruchtfolge. Mitteilungen der Deutschen Bodenkundlichen Gesellschaft 76, 763–766.
Franko U 1997 Modellierung des Umsatzes der organischen Bodensubstanz. Arch. Acker-, Pfl. Boden. 41, 527–547.
Helal H M and Sauerbeck D 1991 Short term determination of the actual respiration rate of intact plant roots. In Plant roots and their environment. Eds B L McMichal and H Person. pp. 88–92. Elsevier, Amsterdam.
Kleber M 1997 Carbon exchange in humid grassland soils. Hohenheimer Bodenkundliche Hefte 41.
Körschens M 1993 C-Umsatz auf Löß-Schwarzerde im Trockengebiet. Mitteilungen der Deutschen Bodenkundlichen Gesellschaft 69, 255–258.
Kuzyakov Y V 1993 Model of CO2-emission by decomposition of low molecular weight organic substances in soil. In Catena supplement: Modelling of Geo-Biosphere Processes, 2, 183–191.
Kuzyakov Y 1997 Abbau von mit 14C spezifisch markierten Aminosäuren im Boden und Decarboxylierung als einer der natürlichen Neutralisationsmechanismen. Archiv für Acker-, Pflanzenbau und Bodenkunde. 41, 335–343.
Kuzyakov Y V, Rühlmann J, Geyer B. 1997 Kinetik und Parameter des Abbaus von Gemüserückständen bei deren Inkubation im Boden. Gartenbauwissenschaften. 62, 151–157.
Martin J K and Merckx R 1992 The partioning of photosynthetically fixed carbon within the rhizosphere of mature wheat. Soil Biol. Biochem. 24, 1147–1156.
Meharg A A and Killham K 1990 Carbon distribution within the plant and rhizosphere in laboratory and field grown Lolium perenne at different stages of development. Soil Biol. Biochem. 22, 471–477.
Meharg A A and Killham K 1991 A new method of quantifying root exudation in the presence of soil microflora. Plant Soil 133, 111–116.
Meharg A A and Killham K 1995 Loss of exudates from the roots of perennial ryegrass inoculated with a range of micro-organisms. Plant Soil 170, 345–349.
Merbach W 1992 Carbon balance in the system plant - soil. In Root Ecology and its Practical Application. 3. ISRR Symp. Wien, Verein für Wurzelforschung, Klagenfurt.
Merbach W and Ruppel S 1992 Influence of microbial colonization on 14CO2 assimilation and amounts of root-borne 14C compounds in soil. Photosynthetica. 26, 551–554.
Rühlmann J, Lettau T, Kuzyakov Y, Geyer B 1997 Carbon dynamics of three different textured top soils in a long-term box plot experiment. In Abstracts of Symposium and Status Seminar 'Organic Matter Application and Element turnover in Disturbed Terrestrial Ecosystems'. Cottbus. 11.
Swinnen J 1994 Evaluation of the use of a model rhizodeposition technique to separate root and microbial respiration in soil. Plant Soil 165, 89–101.
Swinnen J, Van Veen J A and Merckx R 1995 Carbon fluxes in the rhizosphere of winter wheat and spring barley with conventional vs integrated farming. Soil Biol. Biochem. 27, 811–820.
Van Veen J A, Ladd J N, Amato M 1985 Turnover of carbon and nitrogen through the microbial biomass in a sandy loam and a clay soil incubated with [14C(U)]Glucose and [15N](NH4)2SO4 under different moisture regimes. Soil Biol. Biochem. 17, 747–756.
Warembourg F R and Billes G 1979 Estimating carbon transfers in the plant rhizosphere. In The Soil-Root Interface. Eds. J L Harley and R Scott Russel. pp. 183–196. Academic Press, London.
Warembourg F R and Kummerow J 1991 Photosynthesis/ translocation studies in terrestrial ecosystems. In Carbon Isotope Techniques. Eds D C Coleman and B Fry. pp. 11–37. Academic Press, San Diego.
Warembourg F R and Paul E A 1977 Seasonal transfers of assimilated 14C in grassland: plant production and turnover, soil and plant respiration. Soil Biol. Biochem. 9, 295–301.
Whipps J M 1990 Carbon Economy. In The Rhizosphere. Ed. J M Lynch. pp. 59–97. Wiley, Chichester.
Whitmore A P and Groot J J R 1994 The mineralization of N from finely or coarsely chopped crop residues: measurements and modelling. European Journal of Agronomy 3, 367–373.
Zagal E 1994 Carbon distribution and nitrogen partitioning in a soil-plant system with barley (Hordeum vulgare L.), ryegrass (Lolium perenne) and rape (Brassica napus L.) grown in a 14CO2-atmosphere. Plant Soil 166, 63–74.
Zagal E, Bjarnason S and Olsson U 1993 Carbon and nitrogen in the root zone of barley (Hor-deum vulgare L.) supplied with nitrogen fertilizer at two rates. Plant Soil 157, 51–63.
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Kuzyakov, Y., Kretzschmar, A. & Stahr, K. Contribution of Lolium perenne rhizodeposition to carbon turnover of pasture soil. Plant and Soil 213, 127–136 (1999). https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1004566027237
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1004566027237