Barley roots are not constrained to large-sized biopores in the subsoil of a deep Haplic Luvisol

Kautz, Timo; Perkons, Ute; Athmann, Miriam; Pude, Ralf; Köpke, Ulrich

doi:10.1007/s00374-013-0783-9

Cited by 48 publications

(37 citation statements)

References 12 publications

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“…Possibly, roots are fast growing through the upper subsoil in order to acquire nutrients and water in deeper soil horizons. This is supported by a study on the same field site by Kautz et al (2013b) showing that in the upper subsoil, Bt-layer roots were preferentially growing in biopores, where the mechanic resistance is lower than that in the bulk soil. As younger roots release more root exudates (McCully and Canny 1985), this may trigger the increased hydrolase activities in the deep subsoil.…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 57%

Spatial variability of hydrolytic and oxidative potential enzyme activities in different subsoil compartments

et al. 2015

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The spatial heterogeneity of nutrient turnover in subsoils has been rarely studied in the past, although drilosphere and rhizosphere are found to be important microbial hotspots in this oligotrophic environment. In this study, we measured different potential enzyme activities in different soil compartments of subsoil and topsoil. It could be shown that the activities of hydrolases, which cleave readily available organic substrates, are significantly higher in samples from the drilosphere and rhizosphere both in topsoil and subsoil. In bulk soil, hydrolase activities decrease with depth. In contrast, oxidative enzymes, which are involved in the decay of recalcitrant organic material, are released from the microbial community especially in the bulk fraction of subsoil. This emphasizes the importance of subsoil for nutrient acquisition and gives evidence for a distinct spatial separation of microbes with diverging lifestyles.

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Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 57%

Spatial variability of hydrolytic and oxidative potential enzyme activities in different subsoil compartments

et al. 2015

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“…Nakamoto (1997) reported with 33 % of maize roots inside artificially created biopores. It indicates that root growing pattern via biopores highly depends on the pore properties (Hirth et al 2005), crop species, and cropping duration (Jakobsen and Dexter 1988), as well as site conditions (Hatano et al 1988;Kautz et al 2013b). Considering our data on soil mineral N dynamics in the subsoil, the effects of N concentration on root growth are unlikely to assume.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Previous studies (e.g., Kautz et al 2013b;Perkons et al 2014) revealed that root length in biopores and the share of roots growing through biopore channels in the subsoil may vary considerably over time and along the soil depth. Recently, a novel visual approach has also shown that roots elongating inside biopores cross the pore walls in deep soil horizons (Athmann et al 2013), thus can re-explore the bulk soil.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Previous studies (e.g., Ehlers et al 1983;Kautz et al 2013b;Perkons et al 2014) have proven that the profile wall method (Böhm 1979) can be adopted for observation of temporal root growth with effective visualization of roots in association with soil biopores along the deep soil horizons.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Only few studies have attempted to include Btime^as an important factor to determine biopore-root association (e.g., Kautz et al 2013b). Considering that nutrient requirements of crop plants differ between growth stages (Peng et al 2012;Girma et al 2014), quantification of temporal variation in biopore effects on root growth is essential for understanding the relationship between belowground and aboveground production within a cropping cycle (Neukirchen et al 1999).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Root growth dynamics inside and outside of soil biopores as affected by crop sequence determined with the profile wall method

et al. 2015

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Taprooting crop species are capable of creating soil biopores (>2 mm in diameter) in the subsoil due to their large root size and deep-rooting habit. The aim of this study was to quantify root growth dynamics of wheat in the subsoil during its complete growth season as affected by crop sequence. Temporal observation on root length (km m −2 ) of wheat inside and outside of biopores at four growth stages (tillering, booting, anthesis, and milk) was conducted by using the profile wall method under the two crop sequence treatments involving two precrops, viz., chicory and tall fescue. Frequency of biopore presence measured on vertical profile walls depended on the choice of precrops in which chicory precrop resulted in higher frequency (2.3 %) compared with tall fescue (1.5 %). Root length of wheat measured inside biopores was significantly higher when grown after chicory (0.024 km m −2 ) in comparison to tall fescue (0.006 km m −2 ). On average, root length outside biopores after growing chicory was 45.9 % higher than tall fescue until the stage of anthesis. We conclude that at the site under study biopores as pathways for rapid root growth into deeper soil layers allow roots to re-enter and explore the subsoil. Thus, cereals cultivated in rotation with taprooted crops can draw benefit from enhanced uptake of water and nutrients from deeper soil layers during early growth stages. Model simulations with various abiotic and biotic factors will be helpful to reveal the direct evidence of biopore-root-shoot relationship in the future.

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Artificial pores attract barley roots and can reduce artifacts of pot experiments

Pfeifer

Kirchgeßner

Walter

2014

J. Plant Nutr. Soil Sci.

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Soil compaction is a severe agricultural problem. It is characterized by an increased resistance to root penetration and by a decreased amount of porosity in the soil. Until today it is not clear whether crop roots are able to actively detect remaining pores in compacted soil. Moreover, little is known about the capability of roots to leave pores again if the mechanical resistance of the bulk soil allows so. The aim of this study was to investigate the root growth response of spring barley (Hordeum vulgare L. cv. Ascona) in different configurations of a compacted loamy soil containing pores. The three-dimensional configurations of the root systems from three well watered and fertilized treatments were analyzed with X-ray computed tomography. All soil-filled cylindrical plastic pots (diameter: 60 mm, height: 210 mm) contained loose topsoil but differed in subsoil structure. In treatment 'Loose' [L] the pots were entirely filled with loose soil. Treatment 'Lower part compacted' [C] contained compacted soil in the lower part of the pots. Likewise, treatment 'Pores' [P] contained compacted soil in the lower part too, but here 16 artificial pores (1 mm diameter) were generated in the central part of the compacted subsoil zone. Comparison of the two treatments with compacted soil [C] and [P] showed that the roots were able to detect pores. However, the roots frequently grew across the pores or left the pores again after having grown into them, leading to a significantly higher fraction of roots exploring the compacted soil in the treatment with pores compared to the treatment without pores. These findings are useful for designing controlled experiments in pots of limited size that can mimic root growth in relatively complex soil structures which are more similar to field situations than usual pot experiments.

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Barley roots are not constrained to large-sized biopores in the subsoil of a deep Haplic Luvisol

Cited by 48 publications

References 12 publications

Spatial variability of hydrolytic and oxidative potential enzyme activities in different subsoil compartments

Spatial variability of hydrolytic and oxidative potential enzyme activities in different subsoil compartments

Root growth dynamics inside and outside of soil biopores as affected by crop sequence determined with the profile wall method

Artificial pores attract barley roots and can reduce artifacts of pot experiments

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