Impacts of morphological traits and temperature on fine root respiration during dormancy of Caragana korshinskii

Abstract

Respiration of fine roots (Rfr) plays a major role in belowground carbon cycles, but the relationships between Rfr and biotic and abiotic factors during plant dormancy remain unclear. We used a standard chamber equipped with an infrared gas analyzer and configured as an open system to measure Rfr of intact roots (<2 mm) of Caragana korshinskii in situ in November 2013. Rates of Rfr in C.korshinskii were closely related to root morphological traits, including mean root diameter (Dfr, mm), specific root length (SRL, root length per unit root mass, m g−1), and root tissue density (RTD, root mass per unit root volume, g cm−3). During dormancy of C.korshinskii, smaller‐diameter fine roots had higher respiration rates than larger diameter fine roots, and Rfr increased with increasing SRL and decreasing RTD. Meanwhile, Rfr rates increased exponentially with increasing root temperature. Soil temperature (especially in the subsoil layer) did not play a role in controlling changes in Rfr. The results indicated that changes in root temperature and Dfr were likely to determine rates of Rfr in C.korshinskii during dormancy. Our results highlight the importance of assessing carbon loss from fine roots during the dormant period.

Contribution of Root Respiration to Total Soil Respiration During the Non-growth Seasonin Mine Reclaimed Soil With Different Covering Soil Thicknesses

“…Besides the root biomass, root respiration also in uences by soil temperature and water content (McConnell et al 2013;Zhao et al 2011). In our study, the root respiration was positively correlated with the soil temperature at 5 cm (P < 0.01), which was in accordance with the conclusions of previous researches (Franck et al 2011;Lai et al 2015). However, there was no signi cant correlation between the root respiration and soil water content (P > 0.05), which indicated that the seasonal variation of soil water content did not show signi cant effects on root respiration in our study area.…”

A starting guide to root ecology: strengthening ecological concepts and standardising root classification, sampling, processing and trait measurements

“…RR S is also frequently related to root diameter classes, with lower‐diameter roots having faster RR S (Cox, 1975 ; Pregitzer et al ., 1998 ; Marsden et al ., 2008b ; Makita et al ., 2009 ). However, other morphological traits such as SRL, RTD or RDMC may be better suited to predict the variability in RR S across (fine) root systems, with RR S declining markedly with increasing RTD and RDMC and increasing with increasing SRL (Rewald et al ., 2014 ; Lai et al ., 2015 ; Roumet et al ., 2016 ; but see Makita et al ., 2012a ). Because RR S is largely related to the amount of living cells (Veen, 1981 ; Scheurwater et al ., 2000 ), any trait representing this amount more closely (e.g.…”

Above‐Ground and Below‐Ground Ecosystem Biomass Accumulation and Carbon Sequestration with Caragana korshinskii Kom Plantation Development

“…Because of its economic and ecological functions in terms of wind shelter, sand fixation and soil and water conservation, C. korshinskii plantations have been the subject of many investigations (Xia et al, ; Liu et al, ). For example, C. korshinskii growth influences soil and hydrological properties (Pan et al, ; Liu et al, ), as well as morphological traits and fine root growth (Lai et al, ). However, there is little information on the rate at which C. korshinskii plantations accumulate biomass and increase carbon storage, particularly on the Loess Plateau region of Northwest China.…”

“…Because of its economic and ecological functions in terms of wind shelter, sand fixation and soil and water conservation, C. korshinskii plantations have been the subject of many investigations (Xia et al, 2007;Liu et al, 2016). For example, C. korshinskii growth influences soil and hydrological properties (Pan et al, 2014;Liu et al, 2016), as well as morphological traits and fine root growth (Lai et al, 2015).…”