Abstract
Tree root respiration is an important component of the carbon balance in forest ecosystems; however, it is not clear whether root preparation treatments (such as excising and washing) affect root respiration measurements. Here, we aimed to compare the respiration rates of roots subjected to different treatments (i.e., washing with water vs. brushing without water, and excising vs. not excising) for 17-month-old seedlings of Cryptomeria japonica. Immediately after sampling an entire root system, the root respiration rate was measured on a mass basis using a closed static chamber system equipped with an infrared gas analyzer. We found that the respiration rates for roots that were excised 10–20 times were significantly higher than those for roots that were not excised. There was no significant difference in the root respiration rates between washing and brushing treatments. Our results indicate that large numbers of excisions (>10 times) could lead to bias in the measured changes in specific root respiration rates, and imply that differences between washing and brushing treatments do not affect the specific root respiration rate. We conclude that potential variation in recorded root respiration rates could be minimized by standardizing the root preparation technique, which should involve rapidly removing all loose soil and limiting the extent of root excision.
References
Amthor JS (2000) The McCree–de Wit–Penning de Vries–Thornley respiration paradigms: 30 years later. Ann Bot 86:1–20
Atkin OK, Edwards EJ, Loveys BR (2000) Response of root respiration to changes in temperature and its relevance to global warming. New Phytol 147:141–154
Bouma TJ, Yanai RD, Elkin AD, Hartmond U, Flores-Alva DE, Eissenstat DM (2001) Estimating age-dependent costs and benefits of roots with contrasting life span: comparing apples and oranges. New Phytol 150:685–695
Burton AJ, Pregitzer KS, Ruess RW, Hendrik RL, Allen MF (2002) Root respiration in North American forests: effects of nitrogen concentration and temperature across biomes. Oecologia 131:559–568
Forest Soil Division (1976) Classification of forest soil in Japan, 1975. Bull Gov For Exp Stn 280:1–28 (in Japanese with English summary)
Gough CM, Seiler JR (2004) Belowground carbon dynamics in loblolly pine (Pinus taeda) immediately following diammonium phosphate fertilization. Tree Physiol 24:845–851
Lipp CC, Andersen CP (2003) Role of carbohydrate supply in white and brown root respiration of ponderosa pine. New Phytol 160:523–531
Makita N, Hirano Y, Dannoura M, Kominami Y, Mizoguchi T, Ishii H, Kanazawa Y (2009) Fine root morphological traits determine variation in root respiration of Quercus serrata. Tree Physiol 29:579–585
Makita N, Kosugi Y, Dannoura M, Takanashi S, Niiyama K, Kassim AR, Abdul Rahim N (2012) Patterns of root respiration rates and morphological traits in 13 tree species in a tropical forest. Tree Physiol 32:303–312
Marsden C, Nouvellon Y, Epron D (2008) Relating coarse root respiration to root diameter in clonal Eucalyptus stands in the Republic of the Congo. Tree Physiol 28:1245–1254
Marshall JD, Perry DA (1987) Basal and maintenance respiration of mycorrhizal and nonmycorrhizal root systems of conifers. Can J For Res 17:872–877
Pregitzer KS, Laskowski MJ, Burton AJ, Lessard VC, Zak DR (1998) Variation in sugar maple root respiration with root diameter and soil depth. Tree Physiol 18:665–670
Rakonczay Z, Seiler JR, Samuelson LJ (1997) A method for the in situ measurement of fine root gas exchange of forest trees. Environ Exp Bot 37:107–113
Ryan MG, Hubbard RM, Pongracic S, Raison RJ, McMurtrie RE (1996) Foliage, fine-root, woody-tissue and stand respiration in Pinus radiata in relation to nitrogen status. Tree Physiol 16:333–343
Teskey RO, McGuire MA (2005) CO2 transported in xylem sap affects CO2 efflux from Liquidambar styraciflua and Platanus occidentalis stems, and contributes to observed wound respiration phenomena. Trees 19:357–362
Acknowledgments
The authors thank Mr. Toshifumi Kimura and members of the laboratory at University of Hyogo, who provided useful comments on earlier drafts of the manuscript. This research was funded by a Grant-in-Aid for Japan Society for the Promotion of Science Fellows (DC1 22-2100).
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Additional information
N. Makita and R. Yaku contributed equally to this work.
About this article
Cite this article
Makita, N., Yaku, R., Ohashi, M. et al. Effects of excising and washing treatments on the root respiration rates of Japanese cedar (Cryptomeria japonica) seedlings. J For Res 18, 379–383 (2013). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10310-012-0355-0
Received:
Accepted:
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10310-012-0355-0