Fine root vertical-seasonal distribution of Robinia pseudoacacia in relation to abiotic factors in a chronosequence in coastal saline alkali land of the Yellow River Delta, China

Abstract

Despite the recognized importance of the fine roots in influencing tree growth and stand productivity, knowledge of fine roots is still limited, especially in adverse sites like saline-alkali land. In this paper, we applied sequential soil coring to assess the influence of stand age, soil depth and growth month on fine roots in 3, 16, 30 and 40-year old Robinia pseudoacacia stand in coastal saline-alkali land of the Yellow River Delta, China. Besides, the correlations between fine roots characteristics fine root biomass (FRB), fine root length (FRL), fine root surface area (FRSA), specific root length (SRL) and specific root surface area (SRA)) and abiotic factors (temperature, precipitation, soil water content (SWC), soil salt content (SSC) and soil nutrients) were discussed. In this paper, FRB, FRL, FRSA, SWC and soil nutrients increased, while SRL and SWC decreased with increasing stand age. Vertically, fine roots were concentrated in a 0-20 cm soil layer. SRL, SRA, SWC and SSC increased, while soil nutrients decreased with increasing soil depth. Temporally, FRB, FRL, FRSA, soil hydrolytic nitrogen and available potassium (AK) shared similar patterns and reached maximum in May or September. In July, SWC, SRL and SRA reached maximum while SSC reached the minimum. Soil total nitrogen (TN) and organic matter 2 (OM) were highest in May or November. Correlation analysis showed that FRB, FRL and FRSA were negatively correlated with SWC and SSC, positively correlated with HN and AK. SRL was positively correlated with temperature, precipitation, SWC and SSC, while negatively correlated with TN. Among abiotic factors, temperature, precipitation and HN played key roles in the study area. This study improves our understanding of the fine roots and belowground ecology of R. pseudoacacia stands in coastal saline-alkali land of the Yellow River Delta.

Changes in biochemical compositions and salinity tolerance responses of different bread wheat cultivated in an arid and semi-arid climate

“…Also, since root resistance index is known as the most important index against different stresses (49,50), some stadies showed that indices relevant to plant roots can be employed to improve resource capture and plant development under adverse and stressful conditions (51). In addition, other researchers also declared that salinity stress first affects the root system through osmotic stress and reduced water uptake, which then causes ionic toxicity in plants due to nutrient imbalance, Na toxicity, and growth inhibition (11,16,52). As can be seen, our findings (Tables 3 and 4; Fig.…”

Eco-physiological response mechanism of Tamarix chinensis to soil water changes in coastal wetlands of the Yellow River Delta

“…Soil moisture has an important influence on the adaptation of plants in coastal saline lands (Souid et al, 2018). During the rainy season in this region, soil water content increases and soil salinity decreases, but in the dry season the changes are reversed (Souid et al, 2018;Guo et al, 2021). Studies on the halophyte Limonium delicatulum have found that the salt ion content and protective enzyme activity in its aboveground parts were significantly higher in the dry season than in the rainy season (Souid et al, 2018), and osmoregulatory substances had similar changes (Maaloul et al, 2021).…”

Physiological Characteristics and Cold Resistance of Five Woody Plants in Treeline Ecotone of Sygera Mountains

“…and how the currently existing woody plants will react to environmental changes? have been raised [2][3][4]. The majority of literature is predicated on the link between climate and treeline.…”