Fine root biomass of European beech trees in different soil layers show different responses to season, climate, and soil nutrients
Fine roots are crucial for water and nutrient acquisition in plants; yet it is unknown how nutrient inputs and soil fertility in forests influence fine root biomass seasonal trajectories. Here, we hypothesized that standing fine root biomass increases with addition of a limited resource and shows di...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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Frontiers Media S.A.
2022-09-01
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| Series: | Frontiers in Forests and Global Change |
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| Online Access: | https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/ffgc.2022.955327/full |
| _version_ | 1797995381300133888 |
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| author | Likulunga Emmanuel Likulunga Likulunga Emmanuel Likulunga Simon Clausing Jaane Krüger Friederike Lang Andrea Polle Andrea Polle |
| author_facet | Likulunga Emmanuel Likulunga Likulunga Emmanuel Likulunga Simon Clausing Jaane Krüger Friederike Lang Andrea Polle Andrea Polle |
| author_sort | Likulunga Emmanuel Likulunga |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Fine roots are crucial for water and nutrient acquisition in plants; yet it is unknown how nutrient inputs and soil fertility in forests influence fine root biomass seasonal trajectories. Here, we hypothesized that standing fine root biomass increases with addition of a limited resource and shows different seasonal patterns depending on nutrient availability and phenology. We further hypothesized that the influence of climate is greater in the organic layer, causing larger responses of root biomass to climate in the organic layer and stronger responses to nutrient changes in mineral soil. We conducted our study in three European beech (Fagus sylvatica) forests representing a soil fertility gradient with high, medium, and low phosphorus (P) contents. A fully factorial fertilization regime with N and P was applied at each forest site. To test our hypotheses, we conducted soil coring in spring and fall for 2.5 years. Soil cores were fractionated into organic layer (Oe + Oa layer) and mineral soil (A horizon) and used to determine fine root biomass, soil pH and moisture, total concentrations of soil and root nutrients (basic cations, micronutrients, S, P, N, C), soluble concentrations of soil and root P. Fine root biomass in the mineral soil at the forest site with the lowest soil P content increased in response to P addition. Pheno-seasonal changes caused increases in soil P and N in spring and opposing cycling of biomass and fine root labile P contents at the P-medium and P-high sites. Contrary to our expectation, we observed stronger climatic effects on fine root biomass in the mineral soil, whereas soil moisture was more important in explaining fine root biomass variation in the organic layer. Our results show that seasonal patterns of fine root biomass are dependent on the stratification of environmental factors with soil depth and imply negative consequences for fine root biomass in the organic soil layer due to acute soil water content fluctuations and climate change effects in the mineral horizon due to long-term precipitation changes. |
| first_indexed | 2024-04-11T10:00:41Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-80f0a63a12f14d9783658a199d660304 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2624-893X |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-04-11T10:00:41Z |
| publishDate | 2022-09-01 |
| publisher | Frontiers Media S.A. |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Frontiers in Forests and Global Change |
| spelling | doaj.art-80f0a63a12f14d9783658a199d6603042022-12-22T04:30:26ZengFrontiers Media S.A.Frontiers in Forests and Global Change2624-893X2022-09-01510.3389/ffgc.2022.955327955327Fine root biomass of European beech trees in different soil layers show different responses to season, climate, and soil nutrientsLikulunga Emmanuel Likulunga0Likulunga Emmanuel Likulunga1Simon Clausing2Jaane Krüger3Friederike Lang4Andrea Polle5Andrea Polle6Department of Forest Botany and Tree Physiology, University of Göttingen, Göttingen, GermanyBiological Sciences Department, University of Zambia, Lusaka, ZambiaDepartment of Forest Botany and Tree Physiology, University of Göttingen, Göttingen, GermanySoil Ecology, University of Freiburg, Freiburg, GermanySoil Ecology, University of Freiburg, Freiburg, GermanyDepartment of Forest Botany and Tree Physiology, University of Göttingen, Göttingen, GermanyCentre of Biodiversity and Sustainable Land Use, University of Göttingen, Göttingen, GermanyFine roots are crucial for water and nutrient acquisition in plants; yet it is unknown how nutrient inputs and soil fertility in forests influence fine root biomass seasonal trajectories. Here, we hypothesized that standing fine root biomass increases with addition of a limited resource and shows different seasonal patterns depending on nutrient availability and phenology. We further hypothesized that the influence of climate is greater in the organic layer, causing larger responses of root biomass to climate in the organic layer and stronger responses to nutrient changes in mineral soil. We conducted our study in three European beech (Fagus sylvatica) forests representing a soil fertility gradient with high, medium, and low phosphorus (P) contents. A fully factorial fertilization regime with N and P was applied at each forest site. To test our hypotheses, we conducted soil coring in spring and fall for 2.5 years. Soil cores were fractionated into organic layer (Oe + Oa layer) and mineral soil (A horizon) and used to determine fine root biomass, soil pH and moisture, total concentrations of soil and root nutrients (basic cations, micronutrients, S, P, N, C), soluble concentrations of soil and root P. Fine root biomass in the mineral soil at the forest site with the lowest soil P content increased in response to P addition. Pheno-seasonal changes caused increases in soil P and N in spring and opposing cycling of biomass and fine root labile P contents at the P-medium and P-high sites. Contrary to our expectation, we observed stronger climatic effects on fine root biomass in the mineral soil, whereas soil moisture was more important in explaining fine root biomass variation in the organic layer. Our results show that seasonal patterns of fine root biomass are dependent on the stratification of environmental factors with soil depth and imply negative consequences for fine root biomass in the organic soil layer due to acute soil water content fluctuations and climate change effects in the mineral horizon due to long-term precipitation changes.https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/ffgc.2022.955327/fullsoil fertilityphosphorusnitrogenFagus sylvaticafine rootsseasonal variation |
| spellingShingle | Likulunga Emmanuel Likulunga Likulunga Emmanuel Likulunga Simon Clausing Jaane Krüger Friederike Lang Andrea Polle Andrea Polle Fine root biomass of European beech trees in different soil layers show different responses to season, climate, and soil nutrients Frontiers in Forests and Global Change soil fertility phosphorus nitrogen Fagus sylvatica fine roots seasonal variation |
| title | Fine root biomass of European beech trees in different soil layers show different responses to season, climate, and soil nutrients |
| title_full | Fine root biomass of European beech trees in different soil layers show different responses to season, climate, and soil nutrients |
| title_fullStr | Fine root biomass of European beech trees in different soil layers show different responses to season, climate, and soil nutrients |
| title_full_unstemmed | Fine root biomass of European beech trees in different soil layers show different responses to season, climate, and soil nutrients |
| title_short | Fine root biomass of European beech trees in different soil layers show different responses to season, climate, and soil nutrients |
| title_sort | fine root biomass of european beech trees in different soil layers show different responses to season climate and soil nutrients |
| topic | soil fertility phosphorus nitrogen Fagus sylvatica fine roots seasonal variation |
| url | https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/ffgc.2022.955327/full |
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