Abstract
Fine roots play a crucial role in plant survival potential and biogeochemical cycles of forest ecosystems. Subalpine areas of the Eastern Qinghai-Tibetan Plateau have experienced different forest re-establishment methods after clear-cutting primary forest. However, little is known about fine root dynamics of these forests originating from artificial, natural and their combined processes. Here, we determined fine root traits (biomass, production and turnover rate) of three subalpine forest types, i.e., Picea asperata Mast. plantation forest (artificial planting, PF), natural secondary forest (natural without assisted regeneration, NF) and P. asperata broadleaved mixed forest (natural regeneration after artificial planting, MF) composed of planted P. asperata and naturally regenerated native broadleaved species. At the soil depth of 0–30 cm, fine root biomass was the highest in PF and fine root production was the highest in NF, and both were the lowest in MF. Fine root dynamics of the three forest types tended to decrease with soil depth, with larger variations in PF. Fine root biomass and production were the highest in PF in 0–10 cm soil layer but were not significantly different among forest types in the lower soil layers. There were positive correlations between these parameters and aboveground biomass across forest types in soil layer of 0–10 cm, but not in the lower soil layers. Fine root turnover rate was generally higher in mixed forests than in monocultures at all soil depths. In conclusion, the natural regeneration procedure after clear-cutting in the subalpine region of western Sichuan seems to be superior from the perspective of fine root dynamics.
Highlights
The root systems of trees are essential for forest ecosystem functioning, attributed to their pivotal roles in plant-soil nutrient and organic matter exchange, as well as maintaining plant growth, soil fertility [1] and tree stability [2]
Our results indicated that aboveground biomass was an important factor affecting fine root dynamics with a positive effect on fine root biomass and production, and a negative effect on turnover rate at the soil depth of 0–30 cm across forest types
This study showed that mixed forests had a higher fine root turnover rate, but not fine root biomass and production, than monocultures
Summary
The root systems of trees are essential for forest ecosystem functioning, attributed to their pivotal roles in plant-soil nutrient and organic matter exchange, as well as maintaining plant growth, soil fertility [1] and tree stability [2]. Fine roots (diameter ≤ 2 mm) are the most active segments of root system for acquiring water and nutrients [3], and responding rapidly to variations in the rooting environment [4,5,6,7]. They play a crucial role in plant survival potential and seedlings establishment after outplanting [8], and are regarded as a good indicator of adaptation strategies to climate change [9,10,11]. The underlying mechanisms controlling fine root dynamics remain limited [16,21]
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