Abstract
Aims
Vertical fine-root distribution determines the potential for acquisition of resources throughout soil profiles; yet, variation among forest types and changes in vertical distribution with environments are poorly understood. We examined vertical root distributions of different forest communities to determine how belowground strategies shift across different forest types and along edaphic gradients.
Methods
Specific root length and diameter of fine roots as well as fine-root biomass, length and area densities were measured in sequential soil layers at 10 cm depth increments across 118 forest plots representing five subalpine forest types.
Results
Evergreen forest types, including evergreen oaks, were more deeply rooted than birch forests. Differences in rooting depth were due to the dominant tree species identity, not to variations in shrub or herbaceous components. Within forest types, soil nutrients and physical properties contributed to shifts rooting depth but not root morphology.
Conclusions
Vertical distributions of fine roots represent critical inputs of plant carbon into soils as well as different capacities for the acquisition of soil resources. Our findings identify consistent patterns of rooting distributions among forest types that may be predictable based on more easily measured root and soil properties and can improve efforts to model rooting depth profiles in forest communities.
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Abbreviations
- FRMD:
-
Fine-root mass density (kg m−3)
- Pro20:
-
The proportion of fine-root biomass in 20 cm soil depth (%)
- β-value:
-
Index of rooting distribution
- MAT:
-
Annual mean temperature (°C)
- MAP:
-
Mean annual precipitation (mm)
- Tc:
-
Tree canopy closure (%)
- STM:
-
Shrub total mass (g m−2)
- HTM:
-
Herb total mass (g m−2)
- STN0–20 :
-
Soil nitrogen concentration in 0–20 cm soil layer (g kg−1)
- SBD0–20 :
-
Soil bulk density in 0–20 cm soil layer (kg cm−3)
- STN20–30 :
-
Soil nitrogen concentration in 20–30 cm soil layer
- SBD20–30 :
-
Soil bulk density in 20–30 cm soil layer (kg cm−3)
- STN30–50 :
-
Soil nitrogen concentration in 30–50 cm soil layer
- SBD30–50 :
-
Soil bulk density in 30–50 cm soil layer (kg cm−3)
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Acknowledgements
This study was funded by the Second Tibetan Plateau Scientific Expedition and.
Research program (STEP) (2019QZKK0301), the National Science and Technology Major Project of Sichuan Province (2018SZDZX0035), the National Key R & D Program of China (No. 2017YFC0505105), the National Natural Science Foundation of China (No. 31470478 and No. 31470023).
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Li, F.L., McCormack, M.L., Liu, X. et al. Vertical fine-root distributions in five subalpine forest types shifts with soil properties across environmental gradients. Plant Soil 456, 129–143 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11104-020-04706-x
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11104-020-04706-x