Root turnover and production by14C dilution: implications of carbon partitioning in plants

Abstract

Estimates of belowground net primary production (BNP) obtained by using traditional soil core harvest data are subject to a variety of potentially serious errors. In a controlled growth chamber experiment, we examined the aboveground-belowground, labile to structural tissue, and plant to soil dynamics of carbon to formulate a14C dilution technique for potential successful application in the field and to quantify sources of error in production estimates. Despite the fact that the majority of net14C movement between above- and belowground plant parts occurred between the initial labeling and day 5, significant quantities of14C were incorporated into cell-wall tissue throughout the growing period. The rate of this increase at late sampling dates was greater for roots than for shoots. Total loss of assimilated14C was 47% in wheat and 28% in blue grama. Exudation and sloughing in wheat and blue grama, respectively, was 15 and 6% of total uptake and 22 and 8% of total plant production. When root production estimates by14C dilution were corrected for the quantities of labile14C incorporated into structural carbon between two sampling dates, good agreement with actual production was found. The error associated with these estimates was ±2% compared with a range of −119 to −57% for the uncorrected estimates. Our results suggest that this technique has potential field application if sampling is performed the year after labelling. Sources of errors in harvest versus14C dilution estimates of BNP are discussed.