Response Strategies of Root System Architecture to Soil Environment: A Case Study of Single-Species Cupressus funebris Plantations
The root system architecture (RSA), being a key characteristic of the root economic spectrum, describes the spatial arrangement and positioning of roots that determines the plant's exploration of water and nutrients in the soil. Still, it remains poorly understood how the RSA of woody plants re...
| Main Authors: | , , , , , , , , , |
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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Frontiers Media S.A.
2022-04-01
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| Series: | Frontiers in Plant Science |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fpls.2022.822223/full |
| _version_ | 1817987797901901824 |
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| author | Wenchun He Chao Luo Yang Wang Xiaochen Wen Yu Wang Tianyi Li Gang Chen Kuangji Zhao Xianwei Li Chuan Fan |
| author_facet | Wenchun He Chao Luo Yang Wang Xiaochen Wen Yu Wang Tianyi Li Gang Chen Kuangji Zhao Xianwei Li Chuan Fan |
| author_sort | Wenchun He |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | The root system architecture (RSA), being a key characteristic of the root economic spectrum, describes the spatial arrangement and positioning of roots that determines the plant's exploration of water and nutrients in the soil. Still, it remains poorly understood how the RSA of woody plants responds to the demand for water and nutrients in different soil environments and how the uptake of these resources is optimized. Here we selected single-species plantations of Cupressus funebris and determined their topological index (TI), revised topological index (qa and qb), root link length (RLL), root branching rate (Rb and Ri:Ri+1), and in situ soil physicochemical properties to assess which root foraging strategies adopt in different soil environments among Guang'an City (GA), Suining City (SN), Mianyang City (MY), and Deyang City (DY) in China. We also tested the potential effects of different nutrients upon RSA according to its plastic phenotype. Principal component analysis (PCA) showed that levels of soil nutrients were the highest at DY, followed by MY and SN, and lower at GA. A dichotomous branching pattern was observed for GA, SN, and MY, but a herringbone branching pattern for DY. The RLL was ranked as GA, > SN, > MY > DY. The Rb of GA, SN, and MY was significantly lower than that of DY (p < 0.05). Among the different city regions, values of R1/R2 were the largest in different regions and those of R4/R5 the smallest. The cross-sectional area of the root system did not differ between any two connected branch orders. The TI, qa, and RLL were significantly and negatively correlated with soil's water content, porosity, total nitrogen, total potassium, available nitrogen, and available phosphorus (p < 0.05), whereas they all had significant, positive relationships with soil temperature (p < 0.05). The Rb was significantly and positively correlated with total potassium in soil (p < 0.05). Redundancy analysis showed that total potassium was the main factor driving variation in RSA. Our results emphasize that the RSA is capable of corresponding plastic alterations by changing its number of internal or external links and the root link length of fine roots vis-à-vis a heterogeneous environment, thereby optimizing the rates of water capture and space utilization. |
| first_indexed | 2024-04-14T00:26:26Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-7a5132f809bd4a0eb58f00ba8c319089 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 1664-462X |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-04-14T00:26:26Z |
| publishDate | 2022-04-01 |
| publisher | Frontiers Media S.A. |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Frontiers in Plant Science |
| spelling | doaj.art-7a5132f809bd4a0eb58f00ba8c3190892022-12-22T02:22:43ZengFrontiers Media S.A.Frontiers in Plant Science1664-462X2022-04-011310.3389/fpls.2022.822223822223Response Strategies of Root System Architecture to Soil Environment: A Case Study of Single-Species Cupressus funebris PlantationsWenchun HeChao LuoYang WangXiaochen WenYu WangTianyi LiGang ChenKuangji ZhaoXianwei LiChuan FanThe root system architecture (RSA), being a key characteristic of the root economic spectrum, describes the spatial arrangement and positioning of roots that determines the plant's exploration of water and nutrients in the soil. Still, it remains poorly understood how the RSA of woody plants responds to the demand for water and nutrients in different soil environments and how the uptake of these resources is optimized. Here we selected single-species plantations of Cupressus funebris and determined their topological index (TI), revised topological index (qa and qb), root link length (RLL), root branching rate (Rb and Ri:Ri+1), and in situ soil physicochemical properties to assess which root foraging strategies adopt in different soil environments among Guang'an City (GA), Suining City (SN), Mianyang City (MY), and Deyang City (DY) in China. We also tested the potential effects of different nutrients upon RSA according to its plastic phenotype. Principal component analysis (PCA) showed that levels of soil nutrients were the highest at DY, followed by MY and SN, and lower at GA. A dichotomous branching pattern was observed for GA, SN, and MY, but a herringbone branching pattern for DY. The RLL was ranked as GA, > SN, > MY > DY. The Rb of GA, SN, and MY was significantly lower than that of DY (p < 0.05). Among the different city regions, values of R1/R2 were the largest in different regions and those of R4/R5 the smallest. The cross-sectional area of the root system did not differ between any two connected branch orders. The TI, qa, and RLL were significantly and negatively correlated with soil's water content, porosity, total nitrogen, total potassium, available nitrogen, and available phosphorus (p < 0.05), whereas they all had significant, positive relationships with soil temperature (p < 0.05). The Rb was significantly and positively correlated with total potassium in soil (p < 0.05). Redundancy analysis showed that total potassium was the main factor driving variation in RSA. Our results emphasize that the RSA is capable of corresponding plastic alterations by changing its number of internal or external links and the root link length of fine roots vis-à-vis a heterogeneous environment, thereby optimizing the rates of water capture and space utilization.https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fpls.2022.822223/fullCupressus funebrisfine rootroot system architectureresponse strategysoil environment |
| spellingShingle | Wenchun He Chao Luo Yang Wang Xiaochen Wen Yu Wang Tianyi Li Gang Chen Kuangji Zhao Xianwei Li Chuan Fan Response Strategies of Root System Architecture to Soil Environment: A Case Study of Single-Species Cupressus funebris Plantations Frontiers in Plant Science Cupressus funebris fine root root system architecture response strategy soil environment |
| title | Response Strategies of Root System Architecture to Soil Environment: A Case Study of Single-Species Cupressus funebris Plantations |
| title_full | Response Strategies of Root System Architecture to Soil Environment: A Case Study of Single-Species Cupressus funebris Plantations |
| title_fullStr | Response Strategies of Root System Architecture to Soil Environment: A Case Study of Single-Species Cupressus funebris Plantations |
| title_full_unstemmed | Response Strategies of Root System Architecture to Soil Environment: A Case Study of Single-Species Cupressus funebris Plantations |
| title_short | Response Strategies of Root System Architecture to Soil Environment: A Case Study of Single-Species Cupressus funebris Plantations |
| title_sort | response strategies of root system architecture to soil environment a case study of single species cupressus funebris plantations |
| topic | Cupressus funebris fine root root system architecture response strategy soil environment |
| url | https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fpls.2022.822223/full |
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