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288 results for “Root effect”
Data from: Belowground complementarity effects in a grassland biodiversity experiment are related to deep-rooting species
1. Belowground resource partitioning is often proposed as the underlying mechanism for the positive relationship between plant species richness and productivity. For example, if species have different root distributions, a mixture of plant species may be able to use the available resources more completely than the individual species in a monoculture. However, there is little experimental evidence for differentiation in vertical root distributions among species and its contribution to biodiversity effects. 2. We determined species-specific root standing biomass over depth using molecular techniques (real time-qPCR) in a large grassland biodiversity experiment (1-8 plant species mixtures), in two years. Species-specific root biomass data were used to disentangle the effects of positive interactions between species (complementarity effects) and effects due to dominance of productive species (selection effects) on root biomass in mixtures. In a next step, these biodiversity effects were linked to the diversity of rooting depths and the averaged rooting depth of the community. 3. Root biomass increased with species richness. This was mainly due to positive interactions (the complementarity effect), which increased with species richness belowground. In contrast, the selection effect decreased with species richness. Although there was considerable variation in vertical root distribution between species in monocultures, the diversity of rooting strategies did not explain the complementarity effect. Rather, the abundance of deep-rooting species in mixtures (i.e. high community weighted mean) was significantly related to the complementarity effect. Comparing the 'predicted' root distribution (based on monocultures) to the actual distribution in mixtures, we found that mixtures rooted deeper than expected, but this did not better explain the complementarity effect. 4. Synthesis: This study demonstrates that vertical root distributions of species provide only subtle evidence for resource partitioning. We found no evidence that functional diversity in vertical rooting patterns was important for the complementarity effect, in contrast to our expectation that the enhancement of productivity was due to resource partitioning. Alternatively, we found significant but weak relationships between the complementarity effect and deep-rooting communities, based on the community weighted mean root distribution. This suggests that factors other than belowground resource partitioning alone may drive the biodiversity-productivity relationship.
Data from: Effects of species diversity on fine root productivity increase with stand development and associated mechanisms in a boreal forest
There is a growing interest in understanding the relationship between diversity and below-ground productivity due to the critical contribution of below-ground systems to overall terrestrial productivity. Yet, the temporal (seasonal and developmental) changes in diversity effects on below-ground productivity and their underlying mechanisms remain unclear. We hypothesized that (i) diversity effects on fine root productivity increase with stand development, and (ii) increased diversity effects associated with stand development result from augmented horizontal soil space utilization, increased forest floor depth for rooting, enhanced effects in nutrient-poor soil layers and/or foraging towards high nutrient availability. We investigated the effects of tree species diversity on fine root productivity by sampling 18 stands dominated by single species and their mixtures in post-fire boreal forests of two stand ages (8 and 34 years following stand-replacing fire). Species evenness was significantly higher in species mixtures than in single-species-dominated stands at both age classes, while species richness did not differ across stand types and age classes. We found that the annual fine root production was higher in mixtures than the mean of single-species-dominated stands in both stand ages, with a significantly higher magnitude of effects in the 34-year-old than 8-year-old stands. Mixtures had higher horizontal soil volume filling than single-species-dominated stands with a more pronounced increase in the 34-year-old than 8-year-old stands. Compared with the 8-year-old stands, the 34-year-old stands had increased forest floor depth and greater overyielding with soil depth, and their fine root productivity was more responsive to the vertical variation in soil phosphorus concentrations among soil layers. Synthesis. Our results provide evidence for increasing positive diversity effects on fine root productivity with stand development in heterogeneous natural forests. Moreover, our results indicate that the increased positive diversity effects with stand development was the result of multiple mechanisms, including higher horizontal soil volume filling, a thicker forest floor layer for rooting, a higher magnitude of complementarity in nutrient-poor deep soil layers and stronger nutrient foraging towards soil layers with high nutrient concentrations in older than younger stands.
Data from: Archaea and bacteria mediate the effects of native species root loss on fungi during plant invasion
Although invasive plants can drive ecosystem change, little is known about the directional nature of belowground interactions between invasive plants, native roots, bacteria, archaea and fungi. We used detailed bioinformatics and a recently developed root assay on soils collected in fescue grassland along a gradient of smooth brome (Bromus inermis Leyss) invasion to examine the links between smooth brome shoot litter and root, archaea, bacteria and fungal communities. We examined (1) aboveground versus belowground influences of smooth brome on soil microbial communities, (2) the importance of direct versus microbe-mediated impacts of plants on soil fungal communities, and (3) the web of roots, shoots, archaea, bacteria and fungi interactions across the A and B soil horizons in invaded and non-invaded sites. Archaea and bacteria influenced fungal composition, but not vice versa, as indicated by redundancy analyses. Co-inertia analyses suggested that bacterial–fungal variance was driven primarily by 12 bacterial operational taxonomic units (OTUs). Brome increased bacterial diversity via smooth brome litter in the A horizon and roots in the B horizon, which then reduced fungal diversity. Archaea increased abundance of several bacterial OTUs, and the key bacterial OTUs mediated changes in the fungi's response to invasion. Overall, native root diversity loss and bacterial mediation were more important drivers of fungal composition than were the direct effects of increases in smooth brome. Critically, native plant species displacement and root loss appeared to be the most important driver of fungal composition during invasion. This causal web likely gives rise to the plant–fungi feedbacks, which are an essential factor determining plant diversity in invaded grassland ecosystems.
Data from: Root volume distribution of maturing perennial grasses revealed by correcting for minirhizotron surface effects
Aims: Root architecture drives plant ecology and physiology, but current detection methods limit understanding of root placement within soil profiles. We developed a statistical model of root volume along depth gradients and used it to infer carbon storage potential of land-use changes from conventional agriculture to perennial bioenergy grasses. Methods: We estimated root volume of maize-soybean rotation and three perennial grass systems (Miscanthus × giganteus, Panicum virgatum, tallgrass prairie mix) by Bayesian modeling from minirhizotron images, correcting for small images and near-surface underdetection. We monitored seasonal and inter-annual changes in root volume distribution, then validated our estimates against root mass from core samples. Results: The model explained 29% of root volume variation and validated well against core mass. Seventh-year perennials had greater belowground biomass than maize-soybean both in total (11-16×) and throughout the profile (2-17× at every depth < 120 cm). Perennials' relative depth allocations were stable over time, while total root volume increased through five years. In 2012 a historically hot, dry summer damaged maize while perennials appeared resilient, suggesting their large-deep root systems aid drought resistance. Conclusions: Perennial root systems are large, deep, and persistent. Converting row crops to perennial bioenergy grasses likely sequesters carbon in a large, potentially very stable, soil pool.
Data from: Fertilizer application effects on grain and storage root nutrient concentration
Fertilizer application can affect nutrient concentrations of edible plant products. Data from 70 crop-nutrient response trials conducted in Mali, Niger, Nigeria, and Tanzania were used to evaluate nutrient application effects on nutrient concentrations for grain of five pulse and five cereal crops and for storage roots of cassava (Manihot esculenta L.). Treatments per trial were ≥12 but this study was limited to: no fertilizer applied; macronutrients applied (NPK or PK); and the macronutrient treatment plus Mg, S, Zn, and B applied (MgSZnB). Dried grain or cassava flour samples were analyzed for concentrations of all essential soil nutrients except for Ni and Cl. Concentrations of N and K were positively correlated with concentrations of most other nutrients. The concentrations were relatively low overall for cowpea (Vigna unguiculata L.) and pigeonpea (Cajanus cajan L.) compared with other pulse crops and for maize (Zea mays L.) compared with other cereal crops. Application of NPK or PK had little effect on nutrient concentrations except for increased mean cereal grain concentrations for N, Ca, Mg, S, Zn, Cu, and B. Bean (Phaseolus vulgaris L.), maize and rice (Oryza sativa L.) grain concentrations were reduced by MgSZnB for N, K, S, Cu, Mn, and B. There were no or inconsistent effects of MgSZnB on other crop-nutrient concentrations. Nutrient concentrations are not reduced by NPK for non-legumes or PK for pulses but MgSZnB often reduced bean and cereal nutrient concentrations with greater reductions for immobile compared with mobile nutrients.
Data from: Effect of plant root symbionts on performance of native woody species in competition with an invasive grass in multispecies microcosms
The majority of terrestrial plants form mutualistic associations with arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi (AMF) and rhizobia (i.e. nitrogen fixing bacteria). Understanding these associations has important implications for ecological theory and for restoration practice. Here we tested whether the presence of AMF and rhizobia influence the performance of native woody plants invaded by a non-native grass in experimental microcosms. We planted eight plant species (i.e. Acacia acuminata, A. microbotrya, Eucalyptus loxophleba subsp. loxophleba, E. astringens, Calothamnus quadrifidus, Callistemon phoeniceus, Hakea lissocarpha and H. prostrata) in microcosms of field-conditioned soil with and without addition of AMF and rhizobia in a fully factorial experimental design. After seedling establishment, we seeded half the microcosms with an invasive grass Bromus diandrus. We measured shoot and root biomass of native plants and Bromus, and on roots, the percentage colonization by AMF, number of rhizobia-forming nodules and number of proteaceous root clusters. We found no effect of plant root symbionts or Bromus addition on performance of myrtaceous, and as predicted, proteaceous species as they rely little or not at all on AMF and rhiozbia. Soil treatments with AMF and rhiozbia had a strong positive effect (i.e. larger biomass) on native legumes (A. microbotrya and A. acuminata). However, the beneficial effect of root symbionts on legumes became negative (i.e. lower biomass and less nodules) if Bromus was present, especially for one legume, i.e. A. acuminata, suggesting a disruptive effect of the invader on the mutualism. We also found a stimulating effect of Bromus on root nodule production in A. microbotrya and AMF colonization in A. acuminata which could be indicative of legumes' increased resource acquisition requirement, i.e. for nitrogen and phosphorus, respectively, in response to the Bromus addition. We have demonstrated the importance of measuring belowground effects because the aboveground effects gave limited indication of the effects occuring belowground.
Data from: Litter removal in a tropical rain forest reduces fine root biomass and production but litter addition has few effects
Many old-growth lowland tropical rain forests are potentially nutrient limited, and it has long been thought that many such forests maintain growth by recycling nutrients from decomposing litter. We investigated this by continuously removing (for ten years) freshly fallen litter from five (45 m x 45 m) plots, adding it to five other plots, there were five controls. From monthly measures over one year we show that litter removal caused lower: fine root (≤2 mm diameter) standing mass, fine root standing length, fine root length production and fine root length survivorship. Litter addition did not significantly change fine root mass or length or production. Nutrient concentrations in fine roots in litter removal plots were lower than those in controls for nitrogen (N), calcium (Ca) and magnesium (Mg), concentrations in fine roots in litter addition plots were higher for N and Ca. Chronic litter removal has resulted in reduced forest growth due to lack of nutrients, probably nitrogen. Conversely, long-term litter addition has had fewer effects.
Case study data 2022: The effects of dune plant roots on loggerhead turtle (Caretta caretta) nest success
<p>Sand dunes are supported by the extensive root systems of dune plants that anchor the dune and protect it from erosion. While all plants that grow on the dunes support their structure, invasive plants can outcompete native and non-native dune plants for resources such as nutrients, sunlight, and space to grow. During the summer, sea turtles lay nests on beaches and near dunes; however, their eggs and hatchlings are at risk of destruction and entrapment by dune plant root penetration. Dune plant roots can penetrate sea turtle nest cavities, thus decreasing the hatching success of the eggs and the emergence success of the hatchlings. The purpose of this project was to determine how plant roots impact loggerhead sea turtle (<em>Caretta caretta)</em> nest success on Casey Key, Sarasota County, Florida, USA, and to assess which factors affect plant root invasion. We predicted (1) a negative impact on loggerhead sea turtle nests by plant roots, (2) invasive plants have a larger impact than native or non-native plants, and (3) the distance from the dune affects whether roots will penetrate the nest. Data from nests excavated in 2022 were used to determine the extent of root penetration and species of plants were documented. Statistical models were used to identify which variables had the greatest effect on root penetration. The results of this study conclude that root presence in the nest cavity decreases both hatch and emergence success of hatchlings within the nest and that nests closer to the dune are more likely to have a higher proportion of root damage and lower hatch and emergence success. This study helps advance understanding of how and if invasive plants affect sea turtle reproductive success and helps inform coastal management aimed at conserving threatened loggerhead populations.</p>
Stronger effect of litter quality than microorganisms on leaf and root litter C and N loss at different decomposition stages following a subtropical land use change
<p>Litter decomposition contributes largely to global carbon (C) and nitrogen (N) cycling, and it is strongly determined by litter quality and microbial community composition in ways that are poorly understood. Here, we conducted a 2-year field litter decomposition experiment by collecting leaf and root litter of crops (from cropland), shrubs (from shrubland), and wood (from woodland) and placing samples for decomposition in woodland soil in central China to investigate the effects of litter quality and microbial community composition on C and N loss of leaf and root litter of three species under different decomposition stages. Our results showed that the leaf litter C and N losses of shrubs were significantly higher than those of crops and wood, whereas the root litter C and N losses of crops were significantly higher than those of shrubs and wood. Generally, the leaf litter C and N losses of the three species were higher on average than those of fine root litter under the whole decomposition period. For the C loss of the three species, litter lignin and phosphorus as well as initial litter quality were predominant drivers of root litter decomposition, while litter lignin, cellulose, and hemicellulose concentrations were dominant for leaf litter decomposition. For N loss, litter stoichiometry and litter quality directly governed leaf and root litter N loss, and the initial litter quality largely regulated N loss at the late decomposition stage. Unexpectedly, the effect of microbial community composition on litter C and N loss was relatively weak and only exhibited an effect on litter C and N loss during the early stage of decomposition. Thus, our results revealed the huge disparity in C and N loss of plant species and litter types at different decomposition stages, which should be considered jointly when evaluating their roles in plant-soil feedbacks under global land use change.</p>
Effects of soil conditioning, root and shoot litter addition interact to determine the intensity of plant-soil feedback (dataset)
<p>Plant-soil feedback (PSF) is recognized as an important mechanism shaping plant communities and determining plant abundance and coexistence. Under natural conditions, plants affect the outcome of plant-soil interactions simultaneously by conditioning the soil by living roots and by litter inputs into the soil. However, most experimental studies only focus on one of the pathways, which limits our understanding of PSF in the field. </p> <p>Here, we simultaneously explored the effect of soil conditioning by living roots and of root and shoot litter addition on the performance of seven <em>Impatiens</em> species grown in a two-phase garden experiment. </p> <p>Soil conditioning negatively affected plant performance and the effect was at least partly explained by nutrient depletion. Root litter addition affected plant performance negatively and the results suggest that biotic effects such as pathogen transmission via the root litter played a role. The effects of root litter addition were more pronounced in control soil which, contrary to the conditioned soil, supposedly did not accumulate pathogens during the conditioning phase. Shoot litter addition increased soil nutrient levels, but had no impact on plant performance. However, presence of shoot litter aggravated the negative effects of root litter, probably due to increased amounts of nutrients available for soil biota and thus their faster growth and intensified effect on the plants. </p> <p><span></span></p> <p>Overall, our study suggests that root and shoot litter have contrasting roles in plant-soil interactions and understanding their separate and interactive effects together with effects of soil conditioning is crucial for assessing the complexity of PSF.</p>
Data for: Effects of nutrient heterogeneity on root foraging and plant growth at the individual and community level
<p>Plants can respond to heterogeneous nutrient distribution through selective root placement to enhance nutrient uptake. It is believed that nutrient heterogeneity can better promote plant growth than homogeneous nutrient distribution, but comprehensive analyses are relatively few. We meta-analyzed the data from 131 comparative studies and synthesized the effects of nutrient heterogeneity on root foraging and plant growth, and examined the roles of patch scale and contrast. Plant responses to nutrient heterogeneity was phylogenetically conserved, and the response in shoot biomass was more correlated with the response in root biomass than with root foraging precision. Root precision depended on competition status, and plants in interspecific competition had lower precision. Community-level responses to nutrient heterogeneity were more significant than individual-level responses. With increasing patch scale, root foraging precision declined, while overall shoot and root responses of individuals increased. Moderate patch contrast significantly increased root responses compared to low and high patch contrast. Our results indicate that plants optimize nutrient acquisition from heterogeneous patches mainly through increasing root growth rate and exploit nutrients more effectively at the community than individual level. Patch attribute mediation of nutrient heterogeneity effects on plants may help design fertilization practices to promote productivity and conserve biodiversity. </p>
Plant herbivore interactions: Combined effect of ground water level, root vole grazing and sedge silicification
<p>1. Accumulation of silica (Si) by plants can driven by (1) herbivore pressure (and therefore, plant-herbivore interactions) (2) geo-hydrological cycles or (3) a combination of (1) and (2), with (1-3) possibly affecting Si concentration with a 1-year delay.</p> <p>2. To identify the relative significance of (1-3) we analysed the concentration of Si in fibrous tussock sedge (<em>Carex appropinquata</em>), the population density of the root vole (Microtus oeconomus) and the ground water level, over 11 years.</p> <p>3. The largest influence of autumn Si concentration in leaves (Sileaf) was the level of the current year's ground water table, which was positive and accounted for 13.3% of its variance. The previous year's vole population density was weakly positively correlated with Sileaf and alone explained 9.5% of its variance.</p> <p>4. The only variable found to have a positive, significant effect on autumn Si concentration in rhizomes (Sirhiz) was the current year spring water level explaining as much as 60.9% of its variance.</p> <p>5. We conclude that the changes in Si concentration in fibrous tussock sedge are predominantly driven by hydrology, with vole population dynamics being secondary.</p> <p>6. Our results provide only partial support for the existence of plant-herbivore interactions, as we did not detect the significant effects of Si tussock concentration on the vole density dynamics. This was mainly due to low level of silification of sedges, which was insufficient to impinge herbivores.</p> <p>7. Future studies on plant-herbivore interactions should therefore aim at disentangling whether anti-herbivore protection is dependent on threshold values of herbivore population dynamics. Furthermore, studies on Si accumulation should focus on the effect of water-mediated Si availability.</p>
Citrus Tree Root System Image Dataset: Effects of Propagation Methods on Root Architecture
<p>This dataset is composed of images from two different citrus rootstock trials designated "Field Trial 1" and "Field Trial 2". Each field trial was planted with trees of <em>Citrus sinensis</em> cv. 'Valencia' grafted onto 4 different, commercially available USDA citrus rootstocks: US-812, US-897, US-942, US-1516. The trees were excavated two years after planting, cleaned, dried, and imaged in two ways. First, the root systems were imaged radially as though you are looking down through the trunk of the tree with the roots radiating outward in all direction. Secondly, the root systems were imaged vertically in six different positions such that each image was a side view of the root system from a different angle. Additionally, the binary masks of the vertical root systems were included in each .tar file.</p> <p>All images were acquired with a Canon EOS Rebel T6 against a professional photography blue screen. A mapping of the image names to the experimental trial information is included in each .tar file, and a series of scaled images were taken before and after root system imaging to calculate the pixel to centimeter conversion for absolute measurements.</p> <p>This dataset is currently in beta as it may change at some point in the future, therefore until that time, this record will be set to restricted.</p>
Focusing on individual plants to understand community scale biodiversity effects: the case of root distribution in grasslands
<p>Spatial resource partitioning between species via differences in rooting depth is one of the main explanations for the positive biodiversity-productivity relationship. However, evidence for the importance of this mechanism is limited. This may be due to the community scale at which these interactions are often investigated. Community measures represent net outcomes of species interactions and may obscure the mechanisms underlying belowground interactions.</p> <p>Here, we assess the performance of ~1700 individual plants and their heterospecific neighbours over three growing seasons in experimental grassland plots containing one, four or 16 different plant species and tested whether their performance in mixtures compared to monocultures was related to their own rooting depth vs. the rooting depth of their heterospecific neighbours.</p> <p>Overall, individuals of deep-rooting species performed better in mixtures and this effect significantly increased when surrounded by more shallow-rooting species. This effect was not apparent for the shallow rooting species. Together, including both deep and shallow rooting species increased mixture performance.</p> <p>Our results show that taking the perspective of the individual rather than the community can elucidate the interactions between species that contribute to positive biodiversity effects, emphasizing the need for studies at different scales to disentangle the myriad interactions that take place in diverse communities.</p>
Dataset for effects of shear zone thickness in root-reinforced soils: Fallow P X-ray CT scans and digital volume correlation data
<p>Dataset for effects of shear zone thickness in root-reinforced soils: Fallow P X-ray CT scans and digital volume correlation data</p>
Dataset for effects of shear zone thickness in root-reinforced soils: Gorse A X-ray CT scans and digital volume correlation data
<p>Dataset for effects of shear zone thickness in root-reinforced soils: Gorse A X-ray CT scans and digital volume correlation data</p>
Dataset for effects of shear zone thickness in root-reinforced soils: Willow C X-ray CT scans and digital volume correlation data
<p>Dataset for effects of shear zone thickness in root-reinforced soils: Willow C X-ray CT scans and digital volume correlation data</p>
Dataset for effects of shear zone thickness in root-reinforced soils
<p>Dataset for paper titled: <strong><em>Modelling of stress transfer in root reinforced soils informed by 4D X-ray computed tomography and digital volume correlation data</em></strong></p> <ul> <li><strong>Rood Area Ratios.zip</strong> - Root area ratio data for figure 6 and figure 7, and table 5.</li> <li><strong>All_load_data_with_reducing_area.xlsx</strong> - Shear Stress vs shear displacement plot for figure 4.</li> <li><strong>Local_shear_Zone_Thickness_vs_x_displacement.xlsx</strong> - Change in shear zone thickness for figure 13.</li> <li><strong>Depth_vs_vx_plots_local_regions.xlsx</strong> - Depth <em>vs</em> <em>x</em>-displacement line profiles for figure 11.</li> <li><strong>Estimate of change in length.xlsx</strong> - Comparison between changes in root length derived from equations and measured directly from the root path geometry for figure 14.</li> <li><strong>Artificial_root.xlsx</strong> - Shear stress-displacement curves for specimens containing an artificial root, and a fallow specimen for figure 17.</li> </ul> <p> </p>
Dataset for effects of shear zone thickness in root-reinforced soils: Gorse G X-ray CT scans and digital volume correlation data
<p>Dataset for effects of shear zone thickness in root-reinforced soils: Gorse G X-ray CT scans and digital volume correlation data</p>
Dataset for effects of shear zone thickness in root-reinforced soils: Fallow D X-ray CT scans and digital volume correlation data
<p>Dataset for effects of shear zone thickness in root-reinforced soils: Fallow D X-ray CT scans and digital volume correlation data</p>
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