Correlation of Root Structures and Soil Properties in the Near-Surface Soil of Three Forest Types in the Southern Mountains of Henan Province, China

Abstract

We investigated the physico-chemical characteristics and root structure indicators in the near-surface soil of a broadleaf forest, a coniferous forest, and a mixed forest in China. Canonical correlation analysis and a fitting model were used to analyze the relationship between the root and soil characteristics. The results showed that the soil physico- chemical characteristics that can significantly affect root structure indicators including soil organic matter and available nitrogen, and the root structure indicators that are sensitive to soil physico-chemical characteristics include specific root length, root length density and root surface area density. The levels of organic matter and available nitrogen are significantly correlated with root length density, root surface area density, and the root volume density. A cubic curve can well describe the correlation between the available nitrogen and the soil physico-chemical characteristics, while a power function and a S-shaped curve can well describe the correlation between the soil organic matter and the soil physico-chemical characteristics.