Comprehensive assessments of root biomass and production in a Kobresia humilis meadow on the Qinghai-Tibetan Plateau

Abstract

Alpine meadow covers ca. 700,000 km2 with an extreme altitude range from 3200 m to 5200 m. It is the most widely distributed vegetation on the vast Qinghai-Tibetan Plateau. Previous studies suggest that meadow ecosystems play the most important role in both uptake and storage of carbon in the plateau. The ecosystem has been considered currently as an active “CO2 sink”, in which roots may contribute a very important part, because of the large root biomass, for storage and translocation of carbon to soil. To bridge the gap between the potential importance and few experimental data, root systems, root biomass, turnover rate, and net primary production were investigated in a Kobresia humilis meadow on the plateau during the growing season from May to September in 2008 and 2009. We hypothesized that BNPP/NPP of the alpine meadow would be more than 50%, and that small diameter roots sampled in ingrowth cores have a shorter lifespan than the lager diameter roots, moreover we expected that roots in surface soils would turn over more quickly than those in deeper soil layers. The mean root mass in the 0–20 cm soil layer, investigated by the sequential coring method, was 1995 ± 479 g m−2 and 1595 ± 254 g m−2 in growing season of 2008 and 2009, respectively. And the mean fine root biomass in ingrowth cores of the same soil layer was 119 ± 37 g m−2 and 196 ± 45 g m−2 in the 2 years. Annual total NPP was 12387 kg ha−1 year−1, in which 53% was allocated to roots. In addition, fine roots accounted for 33% of belowground NPP and 18% of the total NPP, respectively. Root turnover rate was 0.52 year−1 for bulk roots and 0.74 year−1 for fine roots. Furthermore, roots turnover was faster in surface than in deeper soil layers. The results confirmed the important role of roots in carbon storage and turnover in the alpine meadow ecosystem. It also suggested the necessity of separating fine roots from the whole root system for a better understanding of root turnover rate and its response to environmental factors.