Root Systems of Woody Plants of Old Fields of Indiana

Survival and growth of upland oak and co-occurring competitor seedlings following single and repeated prescribed fires

“…Dey and Hartman (2005) measured high sassafras survival (91%) even after four burns, and similar to findings reported here, found survival did not correlate with initial basal diameter. Early studies examining the growth habits of this species describe it as highly adaptable on a variety of soils due primarily to extensive root suckering (Duncan, 1935). Root networks could provide a continual carbon source (Loehl, 2000) and allow efficient re-building of firedamaged tissues.…”

“…If parent plants subsidize carbon, this could also explain sassafras survival being independent of initial basal diameter and greater height growth per unit increase in basal diameter compared to other seedlings. Additionally, sassafras roots typically grow 15-50 cm deep (Duncan, 1935), which could protect them from mild, dormant season burns. Sassafras dominance may eventually decrease as individual stems self-thin.…”

Genetic Diversity and Clonal Structure in a Columnar Cactus, Lophocereus schottii

“…The spatial distribution oframets within different clones has been examined in some woody species (e.g., Duncan, 1935;Sternberg, 1976;Vasek, 1980;Cheliak and Pitel, 1984a;Reinhartz and Popp, 1987;Hermanutz, Innes, and Weis, 1989), but most analyses have focused on herbaceous species (e.g., Lovett Doust, 1981;Cook, 1983;Hartnett and Bazzaz, 1985;Hutchings and Bradbury, 1986;Maddox et al, 1989). Although Muller (1953) noted that many North American desert shrub species exhibit clonal spread from buried root crowns, the clonal structure of few woody desert species (except Larrea tridentata [Barbour, 1969;Sternberg, 1976;Vasek, 1980)) and no cacti has been investigated.…”

An Experimental Study of Rhizomes of Certain Prairie Plants

“…Among the few sources of information on rate of spread are the studies of H elianthus scaberrimus (Cooper and Stoesz, 1931), Agt·opyron rep ens (Kephart, 1931), Buchloe dactyloides (Savage, 1934), and Convolvulus soldanella (Purer, 1936). Similar information for woody plants has been published by Duncan (1935). Kerner (1898) and Warming (1918) have furnished this type of data for several European species.…”