The influence of climate on root depth: A carbon cost‐benefit analysis

Guswa, Andrew J.

doi:10.1029/2007wr006384

Cited by 130 publications

(157 citation statements)

References 41 publications

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“…Indeed, the case where a plant sends deep roots in search of a water table is not covered by G08/G10 (Guswa, 2008). Glenz (2005 proposed a modeling strategy for those cases.…”

Section: Behavior Of the Optimal Rooting Depth Modelsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The optimal rooting depth model of Guswa (2008) was developed as a framework to study the effect of climate, soil and vegetation properties on rooting depth. Although its original purpose was to provide process insight, it has been used to 25 generate estimates of !…”

Section: Model Conceptsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…1 requires the definition of a function relating average transpiration to rooting depth. Guswa (2008) uses the stochastic model of Milly 5 (1993). This model treats precipitation as a Poisson process, characterized by frequency [events per day] and average depth [mm per event].…”

Section: Model Conceptsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…1 b) and never exceeds 1. Similarly, , which controls the steepness of the curve, can be related to W. It has a maximum near = 1, suggesting that transpiration is most sensitive to rooting depth when water supply and demand 10 are approximately equal, as noted by Guswa (2008Guswa ( , 2010. …”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

“…or other rooting properties, such as the shape of the root profile (Guswa, 2008;Yang et al, 2016). Yang et al (2016) identified the approach proposed by Guswa (2008) as the most meaningful from a hydrological and ecological point of view. This model (see Section 2.1) calculates the optimal 5 rooting depth as the level where the marginal carbon costs of deeper roots starts to outweigh the marginal benefit.…”

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confidence: 99%

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Testing an optimality-based model of rooting zone water storage capacity in temperate forests

Speich¹,

Lischke²,

Zappa³

2017

Preprint

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Abstract. Rooting zone water storage capacity ! is a crucial parameter in models of hydrology, ecosystem gas exchange 10 and vegetation dynamics. Despite its importance, this parameter is still poorly constrained and subject to high uncertainty.We tested the analytical, optimality-based model of effective rooting depth proposed by Guswa (2010) with regard to its applicability for parameterizing ! in temperate forests. The model assumes that plants dimension their rooting systems in order to maximize net carbon gain. Results from this model were compared against values obtained by calibrating a local water balance model against latent heat flux and soil moisture observations from 15 eddy covariance sites. To increase the 15 applicability of the rooting depth model, we provide a numerical approximation of its underlying probabilistic soil moisture model.The calibration and validation of the local water balance model showed that the concept of a single rooting zone storage capacity was appropriate at most temperate and cold sites, but not at Mediterranean sites and for very coarse soils. At a majority of sites, the estimates of ! are generally in good agreement. However, mismatches were found in stands dominated 20 by Norway spruce, especially at high elevations. These mismatches were attributed to the fact that the model does not consider rooting depth limitations due to oxygen stress and low soil temperature. Also, it is not clear whether the rooting behavior of pines on coarse soils is captured properly. Nevertheless, the overall good agreement suggests that this model may be useful for generating estimates of rooting zone storage capacity for both hydrological and ecological applications.Another potential use is the dynamic parameterization of the rooting zone in process-based models, which greatly increases 25 the reliability of transient climate-impact assessment studies.

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“…Indeed, the case where a plant sends deep roots in search of a water table is not covered by G08/G10 (Guswa, 2008). Glenz (2005 proposed a modeling strategy for those cases.…”

Section: Behavior Of the Optimal Rooting Depth Modelsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Model Conceptsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Model Conceptsmentioning

confidence: 99%

mentioning

confidence: 99%

mentioning

confidence: 99%

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Testing an optimality-based model of rooting zone water storage capacity in temperate forests

Speich¹,

Lischke²,

Zappa³

2017

Preprint

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The signature of randomness in riparian plant root distributions

Tron

Perona

Gorla

et al. 2015

Geophysical Research Letters

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Known as “the hidden half”, plant roots are fundamental contributors to the riparian ecosystem functioning. Roots show an extraordinary architectural complexity that recalls their remarkable ability to adapt to environmental heterogeneity, resources availability, and climate. In fluvial environments, phreatophytes and hydrophytes cope with flow and sediment processes, and hydrotropism and aerotropism are the main drivers for root growth. In this work, we show how the vertical root density distribution in riparian plants is the result of how plants respond to the random fluctuations of river flows. A root data set from field and controlled outdoor experiments is used in combination with a physically based analytical model to demonstrate that the root vertical density distribution can be ascribed to the interplay of randomness and determinism in a simple mathematical form. The shape of the distribution reflects the profitability of plant roots to grow in different soil layers depending on the soil moisture availability. For the first time, this model helps understanding in an analytical manner the adaptation strategy of plant roots to different scenarios, paving the way for the comprehension of the effects of future changes in climate and environmental conditions.

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Global estimation of effective plant rooting depth: Implications for hydrological modeling

2016

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Plant rooting depth (Zr) is a key parameter in hydrological and biogeochemical models, yet the global spatial distribution of Zr is largely unknown due to the difficulties in its direct measurement. Additionally, Zr observations are usually only representative of a single plant or several plants, which can differ greatly from the effective Zr over a modeling unit (e.g., catchment or grid‐box). Here, we provide a global parameterization of an analytical Zr model that balances the marginal carbon cost and benefit of deeper roots, and produce a climatological (i.e., 1982–2010 average) global Zr map. To test the Zr estimates, we apply the estimated Zr in a highly transparent hydrological model (i.e., the Budyko‐Choudhury‐Porporato (BCP) model) to estimate mean annual actual evapotranspiration (E) across the globe. We then compare the estimated E with both water balance‐based E observations at 32 major catchments and satellite grid‐box retrievals across the globe. Our results show that the BCP model, when implemented with Zr estimated herein, optimally reproduced the spatial pattern of E at both scales (i.e., R2 = 0.94, RMSD = 74 mm yr−1 for catchments, and R2 = 0.90, RMSD = 125 mm yr−1 for grid‐boxes) and provides improved model outputs when compared to BCP model results from two already existing global Zr data sets. These results suggest that our Zr estimates can be effectively used in state‐of‐the‐art hydrological models, and potentially biogeochemical models, where the determination of Zr currently largely relies on biome type‐based look‐up tables.

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The influence of climate on root depth: A carbon cost‐benefit analysis

Cited by 130 publications

References 41 publications

Testing an optimality-based model of rooting zone water storage capacity in temperate forests

Testing an optimality-based model of rooting zone water storage capacity in temperate forests

The signature of randomness in riparian plant root distributions

Global estimation of effective plant rooting depth: Implications for hydrological modeling

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