Root Depth Research Articles

Short-Term Effects of Incorporation Depth of Straw Combined with Manure During the Fallow Season on Maize Production, Water Efficiency, and Nutrient Utilization in Rainfed Regions

Diminishing soil fertility and crop productivity due to traditional intensive cultivation has prompted the use of straw and manure to improve soil health in Northeast China. However, few comparative studies have explored the influence of varying straw and manure incorporation depths on crop growth. A field experiment in the rainfed black soil regions of Gongzhuling and Keshan assessed the effects of deep (30 cm) and shallow (15 cm) incorporations of straw and manure on soil fertility, maize root growth, and maize productivity. Deep incorporations, via subsoiling tillage (DST) and deep-plow (DDT) tillage, enhanced soil water storage of 30–100 cm soil layer during periods of low rainfall, improved the availability of nutrients (nitrogen, phosphorus, and potassium) and soil organic matter content, especially in deeper soil, compared to shallow incorporation using rotary tillage (SRT). Both DST and DDT induced a larger rooting depth and a higher fine root (diameter class 0–0.5 mm) length density by 31.0% and 28.9%, respectively, accompanied by reduced root turnover. Furthermore, the sub-surface foraging strategies of roots under the DST and DDT treatments boosted the total nitrogen, phosphorus, and potassium uptake (6.5–17.9%) and achieved a higher dry mass accumulation during the later growth period, thus leading to notable improvements in the 100-kernel weight and yield (16.1–19.7%) and enhancing water- and nutrient-use efficiencies by 2.5–20.5%. Overall, compared to shallow incorporation, deep incorporation of straw and manure significantly enhances root growth and spatial distribution of soil water and nutrients, which has great potential for increasing maize yield in rainfed agricultural areas.

Aboveground and belowground sizes are aligned in the unified spectrum of plant form and function

Understanding the global variation of plant strategies is essential for unravelling eco-evolutionary processes and ecosystem functions. Variation in ten fundamental aboveground and fine-root traits is summarised in four dimensions, the first of which relates to aboveground plant size. However, there is no consensus about how root size fits within this scheme. Here, we add rooting depth and lateral spread, compiling a set of twelve key traits that define the fundamental investments of plants in growth, reproduction, and survival. We examine whether the inclusion of root size alters the dimensionality and structure of trait correlations defining plant functional strategies. Our results show that including root size traits does not alter the fundamental structure and dimensionality of the plant functional space, regardless of trait completeness and phylogenetic relatedness. Plant size defines a single continuum of allometric investments at the global scale, independent from leaf and root economic strategies.

Sprouting and Growth of Garlic (Allium sativum L.) At Green Stage Under Various Nutrients.

Garlic (Allium sativum L.) is a vital crop, yet its growth and sprouting at the green stage can be significantly influenced by nutrient availability, which poses a challenge for optimizing yield and quality. The present research was carried out in 2022–2023 at the Nursery Department of Horticulture, Sindh Agriculture University Tandojam, to assess the sprouting and growth of garlic (Allium sativum L.) at green stage under various nutrients. The experimental trial was carried out in complete randomization (CRD) with three replications. Two varieties, a Chinese and a local (Desi) (Desi) variety, were grown in the pots. Macronutrients used as treatments included N1 (control). N2 = NPK+TE (trace elements) 2 g, L-1. N3 = Calcium Nitrate 0.5g, L-1 and N4 = NPK+TE 2g, L-1 + Calcium Nitrate 0.5g, L-1. The results of the present studies showed a statistically significant difference for treatments and nutrient combinations. Best results for all observations were noted in plants supplied with NPK+TE 2g L-1 that had maximum plant height 55.83 cm, leaves plant-1 6.83, leaf length 47.66 cm, leaf weight 8.96g, plant weight 13.20g, neck thickness 6.55mm, root weight 2.68g, and root depth 19.83cm. Fallow control plant height 41.00cm leaves plant-1 5.00, leaf length 31.00cm, leaves weight 4.73g, plant weight 7.61g, neck thickness 3.51mm, root weight 1.46g and root depth 12.00cm. In between varieties the Chinese had maximum plant height 54.66cm, leaves plant-1 7.00, leaf length 45.00cm, leaves weight 10.04g, plant weight 10.99g, neck thickness 8.26mm, root weight 2.81g and root depth 22.00cm. Based on nutrients, the Chinese variety of garlic performed better growth at the green stage than the local (Desi) variety of garlic. The findings of this study show that nutrient N2 = NPK+TE (Trace Elements) 2g L-1had better results for all parameters, and all results were statistically significant.

Hysteresis in seasonal land-atmospheric interactions over India and its characteristics across croplands and forests

Abstract Satellite-derived Vegetation Optical Depth and Soil Moisture (SM) data reveal the critical role of the soil-vegetation continuum in storing rainwater during the Indian Summer Monsoon and supporting evapotranspiration (ET) during the dry non-monsoon season. During the non-monsoon drier period, the climatologically estimated spatial mean of ET exceeds precipitation input, a phenomenon known as the Soil-Vegetation Capacitor (SVC) effect, which is pivotal in maintaining ecosystem productivity. Notably, our analysis reveals significant variations in the capacitor period between croplands and forests, with croplands exhibiting a ~77 days longer due to dual crop seasons influenced by regional precipitation. The well-recognized hysteresis curves, observed in magnetization and soil-water characteristic curves (SWCC), highlight phenomena where a system's state is influenced by its historical inputs or states and are integral to our findings. We report a previously undocumented seasonal hysteresis in the relationship between the evaporative fraction (EVF) and SM for Indian croplands and forests. We further found that the croplands SM-EVF relation exhibits a reversal in hysteresis in the case of root-zone SM. The surface SM-EVF hysteresis is not present in forests with large root depths and reduced soil evaporation due to high canopy shading, and yet it is present for the root-zone SM. With its reversal for croplands, the newly found hysteresis must be addressed in redefining the critical SM threshold to demarcate the energy and water-limiting regimes. It should be incorporated in the land surface modeling parameterization. Additionally, we observed hysteresis in the soil moisture-gross primary productivity (SM-GPP) relationship across both land covers and soil profiles (surface and root-zone), underscoring the need to investigate such processes to consider their dynamics in future ecological and hydrological models.

Root traits of soybeans exposed to polyethylene films, polypropylene fragments, and biosolids

Biosolid use imports microplastics into the rhizosphere where they may interfere with root-soil-microbial interactions and cause morphological adaptations in crop root systems. Few studies have examined the response of crop roots to microplastics at documented soil concentrations, and many studies collect root traits using destructive techniques. Hence, there is little information on when and how microplastics effect the physical structure of root systems. Using the rhizobox method, soybeans (Glycine max) were grown in soil amended with biosolid microplastic mimics (polyethylene film or polypropylene fragments at 2,000 and 15,000 particles/kg dry soil) or biosolids and imaged weekly until maturity (11 weeks) using a custom scanner system. Plant biomass increased in the polyethylene treatments and decreased in the high concentration polypropylene treatment. Relative to the Control, polyethylene treatments had larger root length, reduced root diameters, reached maturity faster, had deeper root systems, and had a greater number of lateral roots. In contrast, polypropylene treatments had a mixed response, with high concentrations eliciting a lower root length, fewer laterals, and a more vertical root orientation. Segmented linear regression revealed that root growth in the Control and Biosolid treatments continued through the course of the experiment, while the microplastic treatments reached maturity up to two weeks earlier. Imagery revealed that microplastics elicited deeper rooting depth within the first week and differences in all root traits were evident by the development of the first trifoliate leaflets. Microplastic effects on root traits at early life stages suggest soil physiological drivers, while increased branching frequency and lower lateral elongation are suggestive of changes in soil nitrogen availability. The minimal difference in root traits in the biosolid treatment may be attributable to differences in microplastic properties or counteractive effects by other biosolid constituents.

Riparian restoration in sandy zones with alfalfa as pioneer plant in initial stage of soil and water bioengineering

As Nature-Based and Bio-based Solutions, soil and water bioengineering (SWB) provides several benefits to humans and nature. It has been widely used for erosion control, vegetation recovery and ecosystem restoration in riparian zones. Nevertheless, studies on riparian restoration in sandy zones with alfalfa as pioneer plant in initial stage of SWB are still rare, which are important for understanding the role of pioneer plants during the initial stage of SWB and also for choice of the appropriate measures. Here, three commonly applied SWB measures (vegetation geobag / VGB, grass-planting concrete block / GCB, and untreated flat area / NTF) are established in sandy riparian zones to explore the growth characteristics structural mechanics and reinforcement of pioneer plant (alfalfa) root, and also the factors influencing biomechanical properties in initial stage of SBE. Our results show that: (1)NTF demonstrated superior overall growth compared to GCB and VGB, underscoring the limitations that geobags and steep slopes impose on initial SWB vegetation establishment. In all treatments, alfalfa roots were able to penetrate soil layers below 60 cm, with NTF exhibiting the highest root biomass and diameter (NTF > GCB > VGB). GCB's higher root-to-shoot ratio may reflect a drought-resistant strategy. In contrast, VGB showed greater root length, maximum rooting depth, and a smaller crown width, indicating a focus on root growth to overcome geobag constraints (2) Differences in root growth distribution among the three treatments resulted in varying biomechanical impacts. Specifically, NTF exhibited significantly lower soil-root bond strength than GCB, while both NTF and GCB had higher maximum pull-out forces compared to VGB. Root diameter showed a significant negative correlation with Young's modulus and root tensile strength, but a positive correlation with root tensile force (p < 0.05). Although no significant correlations were found between root water content and root tensile strength, root tensile strength was positively correlated with Young's modulus. (3) In the comprehensive evaluation of root reinforcement performance, the scores ranked as VGB > GCB > NTF. Result of this study could provide valuable insights into the practical applications of SWB in sandy riparian restoration. Furthermore, it underscores the importance of pioneer plants in the fragile and critical initial stages of SWB, and also benefit both researchers and practitioners in effectively transitioning from the scientific research to practical solutions for riparian restoration.

Modeling the impact of long-term land use changes on deep soil hydrological processes in the Loess Plateau, China

Land use change can significantly affect soil hydrology in arid and semi-arid regions, making it crucial to understand the relationship between vegetation roots and soil moisture. Current models often fail to predict root growth and its impacts on water dynamics accurately. Our work presents a novel model that seamlessly integrates the Community Land Model (CLM) with the Soil & Water Assessment Tool (SWAT). Furthermore, it enhances the root module within the CLM, enabling more accurate simulations of dynamic root depth and distribution across varying tree ages. This improvement particularly considers the crucial processes of dormancy and plant maturity. Soil moisture and root patterns under apple trees of varying ages and in wheat fields on the Loess Plateau was analyzed. Our findings indicate that our dynamic root depth model outperforms traditional static models, and can accurately reflect soil moisture levels with high precision (R2 = 0.80–0.81; Nash-Sutcliffe efficiency (NSE) = 0.65–0.75). In contrast to methods that utilize fixed root depths, dynamic root simulation can provide new insights. As apple orchards mature, the roots of 22-year-old apple trees have been found to reach a depth of 21 m in the soil. Conversely, the maximum root depth of wheat is limited to 1.9 m. This latter finding aligns more closely with the measured root depths, highlighting the accuracy of dynamic simulations. This model reveals that older apple orchards show decreased soil moisture at greater depths (>20 m), contrasting with wheat fields that affect moisture mostly within the top 2 m. Our results underscore the crucial role of dynamic modeling in comprehending root-soil water interactions. Furthermore, they imply that extended orchard cultivation practices can lead to a substantial depletion of deep soil moisture. Specifically, over a period of 1 to 22 years, a water deficit of up to 85 mm yr−1 has been observed. For a 22-year-old forest, the D-D (dynamic distributions of coarse and fine roots) method calculates a significant cumulative deep Soil Water Storage loss. Over the course of 22 years, this loss amounts to 1664 mm, which is almost three times compare to the annual rainfall recorded. Such a large loss has the potential to significant impact on groundwater recharge. This highlights the need for careful consideration in future afforestation efforts to prevent increased soil aridity.

Comprehensive phenotyping of SKUAST-K released rice varieties reveals significant role of root traits in drought resilience

The North Western Himalayan region, particularly the Kashmir valley, harbors a rich diversity of rice landraces, yet systematic studies on climate resilience are lacking. The present study was aimed at investigating the root traits and their interplay with shoot morphological and physiological traits under drought stress using seven indica and three japonica rice varieties released by SKUAST-Kashmir and their possible role in adaptive capacity to different environments. Significant variability was observed in root and shoot traits across the varieties. Root traits exhibited a wide phenotypic range, including rooting depth, fresh and dry weight, diameter, length, volume, surface area, and length density. Associations between root and shoot traits were identified, with notable correlations such as shoot weight with root shoot ratio, shoot length with root dry weight, diameter, and surface area, and tiller number with various root traits. Additionally, physiological traits like canopy temperature depression showed significant correlations with root depth and surface area. Principal component analysis (PCA) analysis grouped japonica type varieties together with a notable outlier, Chenab, due to its superior root traits among indica varieties. These findings emphasize the substantial contribution of root traits to productivity and advocate for their integration into varietal development processes. In view of the increasing evidences in crop plants about their role of root traits in defining plant productivity and reproductive fitness, study of root traits could provide valuable insights into the patterns of crop adaptation to diverse areas and growing environments.

Microbial interactions modify saffron traits selectively and modulate immunity through adaptive antioxidative strategy: Organic cultivation modules should be trait and crop-specific

Saffron (Crocus sativus L.) is a high-value, low-volume niche cash crop that has the unique ability to synthesize apocarotenoids. Since different biofertilizers are advocated for promoting plant health, we aimed to evaluate the interactions of commercially available microbial inoculants with this unique hysteranthous plant species. We studied the interactive effect of microbial inoculants on agronomical, physiological and biochemical aspects of Crocus growth, corm multiplication and apo-carotenoid biosynthesis. Significant differences in nutrient mobilization potential, induced systemic resistance, plant growth, corm, and stigma yield/quality were detected between the different biofertilizer combinations. The arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi (AMF) + phosphate-solubilizing bacteria (PSB) + potassium-solubilizing bacteria (KSB) combination was the most suitable for enhancing shoot biomass, root depth, and root biomass. Additionally, the average number of flowers per corm, stigma yield, and corm yield were greatest for the same combination. The highest multiplication rate of mother corms and a small corm index were recorded for plants inoculated with Azospirillum + PSB + KSB. Although Azospirillum caused maximum multiplication, the percentage of smaller daughter corms was greater, while the replacement of Azospirillum with AMF resulted in maximum percentage of larger corms. Plant health improved through AMF-mediated microbial interactions, which induced systemic resistance via enzymatic and nonenzymatic mechanisms and increased the uptake of P, K, Cu, Fe, Mn, and Zn. The interrelationship between plant and microbial consortium was complex, causing trait-specific qualitative and quantitative impacts on saffron attributes. Microbial inoculants increased nutrient uptake by saffron plants and triggered biochemical defence response by causing mild stress, making the plant more growth-responsive and better equipped for defence. Microbial interaction increased saffron yield and quality by favourably modulating plant metabolism, majorly overlapping with plant protection mechanisms. However, plant-microbial combinations in an organic production module are trait-specific and should be chosen carefully.

CRENet: Crowd region enhancement network for multi-person 3D pose estimation

Recovering multi-person 3D poses from a single image is a challenging problem due to inherent depth ambiguities, including root-relative depth and absolute root depth. Current bottom-up methods show promising potential to mitigate absolute root depth ambiguity through explicitly aggregating global contextual cues. However, these methods treat the entire image region equally during root depth regression, ignoring the negative impact of irrelevant regions. Moreover, they learn shared features for both depths, each of which focuses on different information. This sharing mechanism may result in negative transfer, thus diminishing root depth prediction accuracy. To address these challenges, we present a novel bottom-up method, Crowd Region Enhancement Network (CRENet), incorporating a Feature Decoupling Module (FDM) and a Global Attention Module (GAM). FDM explicitly learns the discriminative feature for each depth through adaptively recalibrating its channel-wise responses and fusing multi-level features, which makes the model focus on each depth prediction separately and thus avoids the adverse effect of negative transfer. GAM highlights crowd regions while suppressing irrelevant regions using the attention mechanism and further refines the attention regions based on the confidence measure about the attention, which is beneficial to learn depth-related cues from informative crowd regions and facilitate root depth estimation. Comprehensive experiments on benchmarks MuPoTS-3D and CMU Panoptic demonstrate that our method outperforms the state-of-the-art bottom-up methods in absolute 3D pose estimation and is applicable to in-the-wild images, which also indicates that learning depth-specific features and suppressing the noise signals can significantly benefit multi-person absolute 3D pose estimation.

Variation and coordination among the plant functional traits of three coexisting shrub species in arid conditions

Functional traits are critical indicators for assessing and predicting plant environmental adaptations and survival strategies. However, less attention has been paid to root functional traits due to the costly and destructive nature of field excavations. This has resulted in a poor understanding of organ trait associations and vegetation survival strategies, particularly for plants in arid environments. In this study, we investigated 11 classical plant functional traits (leaf, stem, and root) and the intact root systems of three dominant coexisting shrubs, Calligonum mongolicum, Nitraria sphaerocarpa, and Haloxylon ammodendron, in a typical oasis–desert ecotone in northwestern China. These three coexisting shrubs generally converge on conservative resource strategies with dimorphic root systems and small leaf mass fractions to cope with strong habitat filtering and survive in arid environments. However, we found significant interspecific divergences in functional traits. Specifically, C. mongolicum had the most conserved traits, the medium root depth (370 cm), and the highest root-shoot ratio (1.72). H. ammodendron had relatively conserved traits, with the most extensive root depth (420 cm, access to groundwater) and the lowest root–shoot ratio (0.45). N. sphaerocarpa had the least conservative traits, the shallowest root depth (200 cm), and the medium root–shoot ratio (1.14). These divergences promote ecological niche segregation and ensure the stable coexistence of shrubs in this resource-limited environment. In contrast to the whole-plant economics spectrum, there was limited coordination between aboveground and belowground functional traits across the three species. Therefore, it is speculated that the different organs of these three species may operate independently to manage different constraints. The deep-rooted H. ammodendron is highly dependent on groundwater; therefore, planting them extensively in the ecotone may increase local groundwater consumption, resulting in the severe degradation of these species, particularly in the context of consecutive oasis expansion and intensified climate change. These results are expected to contribute to the development of effective ecosystem restoration and afforestation practices in such oasis–desert ecotones.

Environmental aridity driving latitudinal pattern of biomass allocation fractions in root systems of 63 shrub species in dry valleys.

Fine roots and absorptive roots play key roles in acquiring resources throughout soil profiles and determining plant functions along environmental gradients. Yet, the geographical pattern of carbon allocation in fine roots, particularly in absorptive roots, and their relations with plant sizes and evironment are less understood. We sampled 243 xerophytic shrubs from 63 species distributed along the latitudinal gradient (23°N to 32°N) in dry valleys of southwest China and synthetically measured biomass fractions of plant organs, especially fine roots and absorptive roots (1st to 3rd root order). We identified latitudinal patterns of biomass allocation fractions of organs and their relationships with plant sizes and environmental factors. The latitudinal patterns of both absorptive root and fine-root fractions followed weak unimodal distributions; stem biomass fraction increased with the latitude, while the leaf biomass fraction decreased. The fraction of fine-root biomass had negative relationships with plant height and root depth. The fractions of root, fine root, and absorptive root biomass were largely explained by soil moisture. Furthermore, fraction of fine-root biomass increased in a relatively humid environment. Overall, soil moisture was the most important factor in driving latitudinal patterns of biomass fraction. Our study highlighted that functional redistribution of root system biomass was the critical adaptive strategy along a latitudinal gradient.

Application of Concentrated Growth Factors in Combination with Bio-Oss for Extraction of Mandibular Proximal Impacted Wisdom Teeth

In this study, we investigate the combined application of concentrated growth factor (CGF) and Bio-Oss (BO) for the treatment of periodontal bone defect (BD) after extraction of impacted wisdom teeth. Firstly, we assess the osteogenic properties of CGF in periodontal ligament stem cells (PDLSCs). The concentration-dependent effect of CGF on enhancing the activity of PDLSCs has been demonstrated. Furthermore, CGF effectively promotes differentiation and enhances the osteogenic function of PDLSCs, leading to improved expression of related osteogenic proteins. Subsequently, a total of 64 patients with loss of alveolar bone in the second molar, who received treatment at our hospital between July 2020 and July 2023, are included. They are randomly divided into a BO group (treated with BO) and a CGF/BO group (treated with CGF+BO). We observe that the combined application of CGF and BO demonstrated superior efficacy in alleviating pain, reducing swelling, and preventing dry socket incidence. In addition, it exhibited enhanced effectiveness in restoring periodontal tissue, including reducing probing depth, gingival depth, and clinical attachment loss. It also displayed better inhibition of gingival inflammatory response and gingival bleeding. Furthermore, it could enhance the restoration of periodontal BD, such as increasing the width of the alveolar bone and root depth, reducing the vertical distance from the apex of the alveolar ridge, as well as improving dental function. Therefore, the combined application of CGF and BO holds great potential in periodontal BD therapy for promoting the regeneration of periodontal bone, thus restoring dental function.

Experimental study to understand the effects of deficit irrigation in maize

ABSTRACT Given the challenges posed by climate change and the scarcity of water, it is essential to adopt sustainable irrigation practices that do not compromise crop yields. Research studies are crucial to determine the optimal deficit soil moisture levels to be maintained for cultivation in different soil types. This study examines the response of maize grown on loamy sand soil under different water deficit moisture contents by monitoring the variation of the crop growth in terms of the leaf area index, biomass weight, root depth and yield. The daily soil moisture is measured to understand the actual evapotranspiration from the study plots. From the experiments, the optimal moisture content identified is 13%, and the plot maintained at this moisture content has shown the highest evapotranspiration, yield and biomass. The yield response factor of the maize grown in water deficit conditions is also observed to be very close to the value reported by FAO. As expected, the yield response factor is found to be sensitive to water stress. The deficit irrigation at the optimal moisture content of 13% could be recommended for maize cultivation in loamy sand soil in North Indian climatic conditions. Such considerations will be vital for achieving sustainable irrigation goals.

Altitudinal Difference of Growth–Climate Response Models in the Coniferous Forests of Southeastern Tibetan Plateau, China

Characterized as a climatologically sensitive region, the southeastern Tibetan Plateau (STP) is an ideal location for dendrochronological research. Here, five tree-ring width (TRW) chronologies were developed: three for Picea likiangensis along altitudinal gradients from 3600 to 4400 m a.s.l. and two for Sabina saltuaria and Abies squamata from 4200 m a.s.l. Significant differences in the growth rates and age composition of Picea likiangensis were observed at various elevation gradients. The chronology statistics (mean sensitivity, etc.) fluctuated with the elevation gradient. Picea likiangensis showed distinct growth patterns in response to climatic variability along the altitude gradient: the minimum temperature influenced tree growth at lower and middle altitudes, while higher altitudes were affected by precipitation. The radial growth of different tree species growing in the same region is controlled by the same climatic factors. Sabina saltuaria and Abies squamata exhibited similar growth responses to Picea likiangensis. Stand conditions (wind speeds, slope, and elevation) and biotic factors (the depth of root, forest type, tree age, and sensitivity) can partially explain why the ring width–climate relationships change with altitude.

Pattern of water use by Tamarix ramosissima seedlings in floodplains under varied groundwater depths in the hinterland of the Taklimakan Desert

The water use of Tamarix ramosissima Ledeb. seedlings after flooding were analyzed both to explore the maintenance mechanism and pattern of natural regeneration of riparian forest, which will provide a scientific basis for restoration of desert riparian forest and ecosystem stability in the lower reaches of inland rivers of arid regions. This study area was located in the hinterland of the Taklimakan Desert in Xinjiang, China. Tamarix ramosissima seedlings growing on different groundwater depths at the river floodplain were used as the study system. The rooting depths of T. ramosissima seedlings with different basal stem diameters were ascertained by the root excavation method. The water source for the T. ramosissima seedlings was clarified using hydrogen and oxygen stable isotope methods, and the water use efficiency of T. ramosissima seedlings was investigated by stable carbon isotope (δ13C) analysis. As the basal stem diameter classes of the T. ramosissima seedlings increased, their root depths increased. As the groundwater depth increased, the seedlings changed from primarily utilizing deep soil water to utilizing shallow soil water. In the three sample sites, the average depth of water uptake of the seedlings with basal stem diameters of 0–5 mm was 110.5, 44.1 and 39.1 cm, respectively, and that of seedlings with basal stem diameters of 5–11 mm was 83.8, 73.6 and 37.7 cm, respectively. As groundwater depth increased, the average water uptake depth of the seedlings gradually became shallower. There was no significant difference in the δ13C values of leaves under different groundwater depths, indicating that the seedlings were not subjected to water stress. Thus, surface water played a greater role than groundwater in T. ramosissima seedling water utilization. Therefore, when analyzing ecological water conveyance patterns, attention should be paid to T. ramosissima located in areas with deep groundwater. Shallow-rooted seedlings with small basal stem diameters face an increased risk of wilting if they do not receive timely recharges of surface water. Data AvailabilityAll data generated or analyzed during this study are included in this published article.

Water uptake patterns and rooting depths of Tamarix ramosissima in the coppice dunes of the Gurbantünggüt Desert, China: a stable isotope analysis.

Tamarix ramosissima has an important role in stabilizing sand dunes in desert ecosystems. Understanding the water use strategies of T. ramosissima is essential to understand its adaptations on coppice dunes. We utilized the stable isotopes δ2H and δ18O in soil water, groundwater, and xylem water to identify monthly differences in water sources. Additionally. we explored rooting depth using 2H2O as an artificial tracer. In May, T. ramosissima derived 75% of its water from shallow and middle soil layers. In July, it absorbed 90% water from middle and deep soil layers. In August and September, it acquired approximately 80% of its water from deep soil layers. The labelling using 2H as an artificial tracer indicated that the root system of T. ramosissima could reach depths >500 cm in the coppice dunes. 2H absorption was observed at depths of 100, 200, 300 and 400 cm. Soil water is the dominant water source for T. ramosissima in the coppice dunes because groundwater is at depths >30 m. The flexible water-use strategies of T. ramosissima enable it to effectively utilize different available water sources to adapt to the arid environment. These findings improve our understanding of water uptake patterns and drought adaptation strategies of T. ramosissima in the coppice dunes of desert ecosystems.

Analisis Penggunaan Tanaman Vetiver terhadap Stabilitas Lereng pada Bendungan Way Sekampung

Problems that occur in the western part of As Way Sekampung have the potential for landslides to occur. Efforts used to handle slope strengthening by planting vetiver plants. The research method used to analyze slopes uses the limit equilibrium method on slip surface sections using the Morgenstren-Price method with the help of Geostudio 2023.1.0 software. SLOPE/W to get the safety factor under normal conditions and under seismic load conditions. By using a seismic load with a return period of 500 years (PE 10% in 50 years) with a Peak Ground Acceleration (PGA) value for the Way Sekampung Dam inundation area of 0,265 g. In vetiver plants, the root depth is simulated according to the top soil depth of 0,0 – 0,1 m. Soil planted with vetiver plants experienced an increase in the value of cohesion (c) by 74,42% and a decrease in the value of the angle of internal friction (φ˚) by 49,40%. The conclusion obtained was that slope stability in normal existing conditions was 4,525 and in normal vetiver plant strengthening conditions the safety factor increased to 4,529. Then, in the existing seismic conditions, the safety factor is 2,624 and in strengthening vetiver plants with seismic loads, the safety factor value increases to 2,626. It can be concluded that vetiver plants are able to strengthen slope conditions.

Role of cover crop roots in soil organic carbon accrual—A review

AbstractAppropriate cover crop (CC) management is an important tool for the improvement of soil carbon stock; however, the relationships between carbon accumulation and CC root traits remain unclear. A literature review was performed to identify the extent and focus of recent research and to answer questions about the role of root traits of CCs in soil C accumulation with regard to species selection, mixture composition and agronomic management. The findings based on the analysis of 69 publications show that a range of root traits such as root biomass, architecture, depth of rooting, root chemical composition, as well as quantity and quality of rhizodeposition, can contribute to soil structure formation and C accumulation. These traits are usually species specific, and it seems that appropriate species combinations in the mixtures can offer the highest potential for optimization of C stock across various environments. However, there has been twice as much recent research on roots of CC monocultures than on mixtures, with little attention paid to agronomic aspects such as plant spatial arrangement or soil tillage in relation to CC root development. Considerations of real management under field conditions could be beneficial in providing greater accuracy of estimation of the contribution of CCs in increasing the SOC stock in croplands.

Vegetation patterns associated with nutrient availability and supply in high-elevation tropical Andean ecosystems

Abstract. Plants absorb nutrients and water through their roots and modulate soil biogeochemical cycles. The mechanisms of water and nutrient uptake by plants depend on climatic and edaphic conditions, as well as the plant root system. Soil solution is the medium in which abiotic and biotic processes exchange nutrients, and nutrient concentrations vary with the abundance of reactive minerals and fluid residence times. High-altitude ecosystems of the tropical Andes are interesting for the study of the association between vegetation, soil hydrology, and mineral nutrient availability at the landscape scale for different reasons. First of all, because of low rock-derived nutrient stocks in intensely weathered volcanic soils, biocycling of essential nutrients by plants is expected to be important for plant nutrient acquisition. Second, the ecosystem is characterized by strong spatial patterns in vegetation type and density at the landscape scale and hence is optimal to study soil-water–vegetation interactions. Third, the area is characterized by high carbon stocks but low rates of organic decomposition that might vary with soil hydrology, soil development, and geochemistry, all interconnected with vegetation. The páramo landscape forms a vegetation mosaic of bunch grasses, cushion-forming plants, and forests. In the nutrient-depleted nonallophanic Andosols, the plant rooting depth varies with drainage and soil moisture conditions. Rooting depths were shallower in seasonally waterlogged soils under cushion plants and deeper in well-drained soils under forest and tussock grasses (&gt;100 cm). Vegetation composition is a relevant indicator of rock-derived nutrient availability in soil solutions. The soil solute chemistry revealed patterns in plant-available nutrients that were not mimicking the distribution of total rock-derived nutrients nor the exchangeable nutrient pool but clearly resulted from strong biocycling of cations and removal of nutrients from the soil by plant uptake or deep leaching. Soils under cushion plants showed solute concentrations of Ca, Mg, and Na of about 3 times higher than forest and tussock grasses. Differences were even stronger for dissolved Si with solute concentrations that were 16 times higher than forest and 6 times higher than tussock grasses. Amongst the macronutrients derived from lithogenic sources, P was a limiting nutrient with very low solute concentrations (&lt;1 µM) for all three vegetation types. In contrast K showed greater solute concentrations under forest soils with values that were 2 to 3 times higher than under cushion-forming plants or tussock grasses. Our findings have important implications for future management of Andean páramo ecosystems where vegetation type distributions are dynamically changing as a result of warming temperatures and land use change. Such alterations may lead not only to changes in soil hydrology and solute geochemistry but also to complex changes in weathering rates and solute export downstream with effects on nutrient concentrations in Andean rivers and high-mountain lakes.