Accessibility navigation


Moderate drought alters biomass and depth distribution of fine roots in Norway spruce

Konôpka, B. and Lukac, M. ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-8535-6334 (2013) Moderate drought alters biomass and depth distribution of fine roots in Norway spruce. Forest Pathology, 43 (2). pp. 115-123. ISSN 1437-4781

Full text not archived in this repository.

It is advisable to refer to the publisher's version if you intend to cite from this work. See Guidance on citing.

To link to this item DOI: 10.1111/efp.12005

Abstract/Summary

A rain shelter experiment was conducted in a 90-year-old Norway spruce stand, in the Kysucké Beskydy Mts (Slovakia). Three rain shelters were constructed in the stand to prevent the rainfall from reaching the soil and to reduce water availability in the rhizosphere. Fine root biomass and necromass were repeatedly measured throughout a growing season by soil coring. We established the quantities of fine root biomass (live) and necromass (dead) at soil depths of 0-5, 5-15, 15-25, and 25-35 cm. Significant differences in soil moisture contents between control and drought plots were found in the top 15 cm of soil after 20 weeks of rainfall manipulation (lasting from early June to late October). Our observations show that even relatively light drought decreased total fine root biomass from 272.0 to 242.8 g m-2 and increased the amount of necromass from 79.2 to 101.2 g m-2 in the top 35 cm of soil. Very fine roots, i.e. those with diameter up to 1 mm, were more affected than total fine roots defined as 0-2 mm. The effect of reduced water availability was depth-specific, as a result we observed a modification of vertical distribution of fine roots. More roots in drought treatment were produced in the wetter soil horizons at 25-35 cm depth than at the surface. We conclude that fine and very fine root systems of Norway spruce have the capacity to re-allocate resources to roots at different depths in response to environmental signals, resulting in changes in necromass to biomass ratio.

Item Type:Article
Refereed:Yes
Divisions:Life Sciences > School of Agriculture, Policy and Development > Department of Crop Science
Interdisciplinary centres and themes > Soil Research Centre
ID Code:29284
Publisher:Wiley-Blackwell

University Staff: Request a correction | Centaur Editors: Update this record

Page navigation