Abstract
The effects of liquid and solid fertilizers on fine-root development were studied in a 130-year-old Scots pine (Pinus sylvestris L.) stand. Ingrowth cores,viz. initially root-free mesh bags with sieved mineral soil taken outside the plots and driven to a depth of 30 cm from the soil surface, were subsequently resampled and the amount of fine roots was estimated.
The total accretion of both fine-root length and dry weight was comparatively high in the liquid fertilization plot. The most substantial net accretion, however, during the 1984 period was in the control plot. The results of the study is that the ramification pattern of the fine roots was strongly influenced by fertilization. The average number of root tips per unit length was 9.9 cm−1 in the control plot cm−1, compared with both the solid (A and B) and liquid fertilization plots (2.3, 3.2 and 3.3 cm−1, respectively) due to a greater occurrence of mycorrhizal aggregates (‘ball mycorrhiza’). The effects of fertilization on the mineral nutrient concentrations in the fine roots were limited—the strongest effects were in the liquid-fertilized area. The observed increase in the concentration of most mineral nutrients in the latter experimental area, however, may be due to a change in the growth pattern of the fine roots rather than an effect of the fertilizers themselves.
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Ahlström, K., Persson, H. & Börjesson, I. Fertilization in a mature Scots pine (Pinus sylvestris L.) stand—effects on fine roots. Plant Soil 106, 179–190 (1988). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02371212
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02371212