Clustered root distribution in mature stands of <Emphasis Type="Italic">Fagus sylvatica</Emphasis> and <Emphasis Type="Italic">Picea abies</Emphasis> |
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Authors: | Email author" target="_blank">Iris?SchmidEmail author Marian?Kazda |
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Institution: | (1) Department of Systematic Botany and Ecology, University of Ulm, Albert-Einstein-Allee 11, 89069 Ulm, Germany |
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Abstract: | Distribution of small roots (diameter between 2 mm and 5 mm) was studied in 19 pits with a total of 72 m2 trench profile walls in pure stands of Fagus sylvatica and Picea abies. Root positions within the walls were marked and transformed into x-coordinates and y-coordinates. In a GIS-based evaluation, zones of potential influence around each root were calculated. The total potential
influence produced isoline maps of relative root influence zones, thus indicating small root clustering. The questions studied
were (1) whether there were marked clusters of small roots in the soil and (2) whether trees surrounding the pit (defined
as tree density) correlate with the root abundance and distribution on the trench profile walls. Small roots of both species
showed maximum abundance in the top 20 cm of the soil, where pronounced root clusters occurred next to areas with only low
root accumulation. The area of root clusters did not differ significantly between the two stands. Weighted clumping, WC, calculated
as a product of root class, and its area was used as an index of root clustering, which again did not differ between beech
and spruce stands. However, evaluations on a single root level showed that beech achieved the same degree of clustering with
lower number of roots. Regardless of soil properties related to root clusters, a significantly higher clustering acquired
per root for beech than for spruce suggests beech to be more efficient in belowground acquisition of space. Because none of
the parameters describing root clustering were correlated with tree density around the investigated soil profiles, clusters
of small roots are inherently present within the tree stands. |
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Keywords: | Fagus sylvatica Picea abies Root distribution Root cluster Space acquisition |
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