Review of root dynamics in forest ecosystems grouped by climate, climatic forest type and species

Abstract

Patterns of both above-and belowground biomass and production were evaluated using published information from 200 individual data-sets. Data sets were comprised of the following types of information: organic matter storage in living and dead biomass (e.g. surface organic horizons and soil organic matter accumulations), aboveand belowground net primary production (NPP) and biomass, litter transfers, climatic data (i.e. precipitation and temperature), and nutrient storage (N, P, Ca, K) in above-and belowground biomass, soil organic matter and litter transfers. Forests were grouped by climate, foliage life-span, species and soil order. Several climatic and nutrient variables were regressed against fine root biomass or net primary production to determine what variables were most useful in predicting their dynamics. There were no significant or consistent patterns for above-and belowground biomass accumulation or NPP change across the different climatic forest types and by soil order. Similarly, there were no consistent patterns of soil organic matter (SOM) accumulation by climatic forest type but SOM varied significantly by soil order-the chemistry of the soil was more important in determining the amount of organic matter accumulation than climate. Soil orders which were high in aluminum, iron, and clay (e.g. Ultisols, Oxisols) had high total living and dead organic matter accumulations -especially in the cold temperate zone and in the tropics. Climatic variables and nutrient storage pools (i.e. in the forest floor) successfully predicted fine root NPP but not fine root biomass which was better predicted by nutrients in litterfall. The importance of grouping information by species based on their adaptive strategies for water and nutrient-use is suggested by the data. Some species groups did not appear to be sensitive to large changes in either climatic or nutrient variables while for others these variables explained a large proportion of the variation in fine root biomass and/or NPP.

Distribution of roots and arbuscular mycorrhizal associations in tropical forest types of Xishuangbanna, southwest China

“…Nutrient pools are important controlling factor in determining the amount of root biomass (especially fine roots) and mycorrhizal association maintained on a site (Brundrett et al, 1996;Vogt et al, 1996). The soils of the primary forest in the present study had the maximum nutrient content followed by soils of the secondary and limestone forests.…”

Estimating fine-root production by tree species and understorey functional groups in two contrasting peatland forests

“…Globally, fine-root production (FRP) accounts for up to 76 % of the C cycled annually through forest ecosystems (Vogt et al 1996;Gower et al 1996;Jackson et al 1997). In boreal forests, on average FRP accounts for 73 % of the total root production and 32 % of the total forest production (Marschner and Rengel 2007).…”

Elevated CO2 and tree root growth: contrasting responses in Fraxinus excelsior, Quercus petraea and Pinus sylvestris

“…The effects of this change on plants will be wide-ranging, as described in many comprehensive reviews (Kimball & Idso, 1983 ;Bazzaz & Fajer, 1992 ;Poorter, 1993 ;Koch & Mooney, 1996). For trees, the change will be particularly important because of their long life-span and their central role in the global carbon cycle (Vogt, 1991 ;Vogt et al, 1996).…”