Soil water availability affects the vertical distribution of fine roots in poplar short rotation coppice

Abstract

Fine roots (< 2 mm), which play a critical role in water and nutrient uptake, are an important component of the ecosystem carbon cycle and often have higher productivity than above-ground parts. The objective of this study is to investigate the effect of soil water availability on the distribution of fine roots annual production and turnover rate. The study was conducted in a throughfall reduction experiment established in a coppiced plantation at the Czech Republic. The vertical distribution of fine root biomass and fine root production were correlated with soil moisture early in the season. Low soil moisture levels (i.e. 20%) corresponded to a greater proportion of roots at depth. Understanding these responses may be beneficial to enhance carbon input in deeper layers and thus potentially carbon sequestration by manipulating the soil moisture in the topsoil through introducing early phenology understory species into bioenergy or agroforestry setups.