Abstract
A preliminary field study was conducted on root mass of young hybrid polar trees (Populus deltoides x P. nigra) using the electrical capacitance method. The objective of this study was to develop a simple calibration relationship that would enable root mass (fresh or dry) to be estimated for young hybrid poplar trees grown in mineral soils using simple, non-intrusive measurements of electrical capacitance. For first-year potted saplings (n = 33), strong linear and positive correlations were found between both root dry mass (adjusted r2 = 0.895, P<0.001) and root fresh mass (adjusted r2 = 0.866, P<0.001) and root electrical capacitance for the particular DN hybrid poplar clone studied. When augmented with data from third-year DN saplings grown in a more harsh landfill environment, a somewhat less strong curvilinear relationship was indicated with root dry mass (adjusted r2 = 0.780, P<0.001, n = 50). This rapid field method may be capable of providing adequate estimates of root mass for young trees in a variety of applications, such as afforestation, agroforestry or phytoremediation studies.
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Preston, G., McBride, R., Bryan, J. et al. Estimating root mass in young hybrid poplar trees using the electrical capacitance method. Agroforestry Systems 60, 305–309 (2004). https://doi.org/10.1023/B:AGFO.0000024439.41932.e2
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1023/B:AGFO.0000024439.41932.e2