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Dynamics of CO2 efflux from the substrate root system of container-grown plants associated with irrigation cycles

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Abstract

In intensive horticultural crops, the choice of growing media and the adequate management of irrigation must ensure an optimal trade-off between aeration and water supply to roots. The proportion of gas-filled pores and their composition can be strongly affected by the water status and hence by irrigation. In this context, continuous measurement of gas exchange and water status of the growing medium could bring out some insights into how irrigation events affect root activity and aeration in a time scale of minutes to several hours. For this purpose, a measuring system was developed that measured the CO2 efflux rate from the entire substrate root system of pot plants while their shoots were kept outside, undisturbed. It was able to monitor four plants at a time for several weeks at a rate of one measurement per plant every 10 min, thus tracing the dynamics of CO2 efflux through a great many irrigation cycles. The results showed a marked pattern of CO2 efflux around each irrigation event, consisting mainly of a sharp, conspicuous peak followed by a depression until a threshold in substrate water potential was reached. Analysis of these data suggests that the pattern is imposed mainly by the effects of irrigation and water content on the mobility of gases in the growing medium. The peak can be explained by the CO2-enriched air being displaced by the water added to the growing medium in the pot, and the following depression can be the result of the reduced mobility of gases when substrate water content is high. In spite of the great variation in the instantaneous efflux rate of CO2, the integration of these CO2 values for the entire day provides a rather predictable value given the root biomass and does not seem to be affected by the number of irrigation events that occur in a given day.

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Abbreviations

CER:

CO2 efflux rate

RDW:

root dry weight

SWP:

substrate water potential

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Acknowledgements

This study was supported by the Spanish Comisión Interministerial de Ciencia y Tecnología (CICYT), project reference AGL2002-04098-C02-02. We would also like to thank Anna Puerta and José Montero for their help with the technical work in the laboratory and in the field, respectively.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. IRTA, Centre UdL-IRTA, Av. Alcalde Rovira Roure, 191, 25198, Lleida, Spain

    Jaume Casadesus

  2. IRTA, Centre de Cabrils, Ctra. de Cabrils s/n, 08348, Cabrils, Spain

    Rafaela Caceres & Oriol Marfa

Authors
  1. Jaume Casadesus
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  2. Rafaela Caceres
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  3. Oriol Marfa
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Correspondence to Jaume Casadesus.

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Responsible Editor: Per Ambus.

Proposed cover photograph

Illustration of a rose plant installed in its cuvette. The substrate root system is enclosed in the cuvette for the measuring period while the shoot is kept undisturbed outside. The container is placed in another container that collects the drainage and discharges it through a siphon, thus allowing irrigation to be performed during uninterrupted monitoring of CO2 exchange.

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Casadesus, J., Caceres, R. & Marfa, O. Dynamics of CO2 efflux from the substrate root system of container-grown plants associated with irrigation cycles. Plant Soil 300, 71–82 (2007). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11104-007-9389-z

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11104-007-9389-z

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