Journal
PLANT AND SOIL
Volume 336, Issue 1-2, Pages 219-231Publisher
SPRINGER
DOI: 10.1007/s11104-010-0468-1
Keywords
Root production; Allometry; Water-table; Bogs
Categories
Funding
- Fond Quebecois pour la Recherche sur la Nature et les Technologies
- Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada
Ask authors/readers for more resources
Fine root production and its relationships to aboveground plant components and environmental drivers such as water table have been poorly quantified in peatland ecosystems, despite being the primary input of labile carbon to peat soils. We studied the relationship between fine root (< 1 mm) production, aboveground biomass and growing season water table within an ombrotrophic peatland in eastern Ontario. We installed 80 in-growth bags (10 cm diameter) to measure fine root production over the full range of 40 cm in water table depth. The point-intersect method was used to estimate peak aboveground biomass components (total, leaf and stem) for the 0.36 m(2) area surrounding each in-growth bag. Mean fine root production was 108 +/- 71 g m(-2) y(-1) and was strongly related to both aboveground biomass and water table. Linear regression analysis showed strong allometric relationships between fine root production and aboveground biomass for shrubs (r (2) = 0.61, p < 0.001), suggesting that fine root production estimates can be approximated using aboveground biomass data. Water table had a significant effect on the allocation of biomass to fine roots, leaves and stems with a deeper water table significantly increasing both fine root production at depth and at each depth increment. Shrub biomass allocation to leaves and stems similarly shifted, with greater investment in stems relative to leaves with a deeper water table. As a result, greater fine root biomass was produced per unit leaf biomass in areas with a deeper water table, illustrating an important tradeoff between leaf and fine root tissues in drier conditions. Our results indicate that any drop in water table will likely increase aboveground biomass stocks and the influx of labile carbon to peat soils via fine roots and leaves.
Authors
I am an author on this paper
Click your name to claim this paper and add it to your profile.
Reviews
Recommended
No Data Available