Soil Moisture Availability at Early Growth Stages Strongly Affected Root Growth of Bothriochloa ischaemum When Mixed With Lespedeza davurica
Rainfall is the main resource of soil moisture in the semiarid areas, and the altered rainfall pattern would greatly affect plant growth and development. Root morphological traits are critical for plant adaptation to changeable soil moisture. This study aimed to clarify how root morphological traits...
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Frontiers Media S.A.
2018-08-01
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| Series: | Frontiers in Plant Science |
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| Online Access: | https://www.frontiersin.org/article/10.3389/fpls.2018.01050/full |
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| author | Zhi Wang Zhi Wang Weizhou Xu Zhifei Chen Zhao Jia Jin Huang Jin Huang Zhongming Wen Zhongming Wen Yinglong Chen Yinglong Chen Bingcheng Xu Bingcheng Xu |
| author_facet | Zhi Wang Zhi Wang Weizhou Xu Zhifei Chen Zhao Jia Jin Huang Jin Huang Zhongming Wen Zhongming Wen Yinglong Chen Yinglong Chen Bingcheng Xu Bingcheng Xu |
| author_sort | Zhi Wang |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Rainfall is the main resource of soil moisture in the semiarid areas, and the altered rainfall pattern would greatly affect plant growth and development. Root morphological traits are critical for plant adaptation to changeable soil moisture. This study aimed to clarify how root morphological traits of Bothriochloa ischaemum (a C4 herbaceous species) and Lespedeza davurica (a C3 leguminous species) in response to variable soil moisture in their mixtures. The two species were co-cultivated in pots at seven mixture ratios under three soil water regimes [80% (HW), 60% (MW), and 40% (LW) of soil moisture field capacity (FC)]. At the jointing, flowering, and filling stages of B. ischaemum, the LW and MW treatments were rewatered to MW or HW, respectively. At the end of growth season, root morphological traits of two species were evaluated. Results showed that the root morphological response of B. ischaemum was more sensitive than that of L. davurica under rewatering. The total root length (TRL) and root surface area (RSA) of both species increased as their mixture ratio decreased, which suggested that mixed plantation of the two species would be beneficial for their own root growth. Among all treatments, the increase of root biomass (RB), TRL, and RSA reached the highest levels when soil water content increased from 40 to 80% FC at the jointing stage. Our results implied that species-specific response in root morphological traits to alternated rainfall pattern would greatly affect community structure, and large rainfall occurring at early growth stages would greatly increase their root growth in the semiarid environments. |
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| issn | 1664-462X |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-04-13T14:21:16Z |
| publishDate | 2018-08-01 |
| publisher | Frontiers Media S.A. |
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| series | Frontiers in Plant Science |
| spelling | doaj.art-d0ac0d0f8ba84b96bca7f275870944c92022-12-22T02:43:28ZengFrontiers Media S.A.Frontiers in Plant Science1664-462X2018-08-01910.3389/fpls.2018.01050370612Soil Moisture Availability at Early Growth Stages Strongly Affected Root Growth of Bothriochloa ischaemum When Mixed With Lespedeza davuricaZhi Wang0Zhi Wang1Weizhou Xu2Zhifei Chen3Zhao Jia4Jin Huang5Jin Huang6Zhongming Wen7Zhongming Wen8Yinglong Chen9Yinglong Chen10Bingcheng Xu11Bingcheng Xu12State Key Laboratory of Soil Erosion and Dryland Farming on the Loess Plateau, Northwest A&F University, Yangling, ChinaInstitute of Soil and Water Conservation, Chinese Academy of Sciences and Ministry of Water Resources, Yangling, ChinaCollege of Life Science, Yulin University, Yulin, ChinaState Key Laboratory of Soil Erosion and Dryland Farming on the Loess Plateau, Northwest A&F University, Yangling, ChinaState Key Laboratory of Soil Erosion and Dryland Farming on the Loess Plateau, Northwest A&F University, Yangling, ChinaState Key Laboratory of Soil Erosion and Dryland Farming on the Loess Plateau, Northwest A&F University, Yangling, ChinaInstitute of Soil and Water Conservation, Chinese Academy of Sciences and Ministry of Water Resources, Yangling, ChinaState Key Laboratory of Soil Erosion and Dryland Farming on the Loess Plateau, Northwest A&F University, Yangling, ChinaInstitute of Soil and Water Conservation, Chinese Academy of Sciences and Ministry of Water Resources, Yangling, ChinaState Key Laboratory of Soil Erosion and Dryland Farming on the Loess Plateau, Northwest A&F University, Yangling, ChinaInstitute of Soil and Water Conservation, Chinese Academy of Sciences and Ministry of Water Resources, Yangling, ChinaState Key Laboratory of Soil Erosion and Dryland Farming on the Loess Plateau, Northwest A&F University, Yangling, ChinaInstitute of Soil and Water Conservation, Chinese Academy of Sciences and Ministry of Water Resources, Yangling, ChinaRainfall is the main resource of soil moisture in the semiarid areas, and the altered rainfall pattern would greatly affect plant growth and development. Root morphological traits are critical for plant adaptation to changeable soil moisture. This study aimed to clarify how root morphological traits of Bothriochloa ischaemum (a C4 herbaceous species) and Lespedeza davurica (a C3 leguminous species) in response to variable soil moisture in their mixtures. The two species were co-cultivated in pots at seven mixture ratios under three soil water regimes [80% (HW), 60% (MW), and 40% (LW) of soil moisture field capacity (FC)]. At the jointing, flowering, and filling stages of B. ischaemum, the LW and MW treatments were rewatered to MW or HW, respectively. At the end of growth season, root morphological traits of two species were evaluated. Results showed that the root morphological response of B. ischaemum was more sensitive than that of L. davurica under rewatering. The total root length (TRL) and root surface area (RSA) of both species increased as their mixture ratio decreased, which suggested that mixed plantation of the two species would be beneficial for their own root growth. Among all treatments, the increase of root biomass (RB), TRL, and RSA reached the highest levels when soil water content increased from 40 to 80% FC at the jointing stage. Our results implied that species-specific response in root morphological traits to alternated rainfall pattern would greatly affect community structure, and large rainfall occurring at early growth stages would greatly increase their root growth in the semiarid environments.https://www.frontiersin.org/article/10.3389/fpls.2018.01050/fullrewateringroot morphologygrowth stagetotal root lengthroot surface areamixture ratio |
| spellingShingle | Zhi Wang Zhi Wang Weizhou Xu Zhifei Chen Zhao Jia Jin Huang Jin Huang Zhongming Wen Zhongming Wen Yinglong Chen Yinglong Chen Bingcheng Xu Bingcheng Xu Soil Moisture Availability at Early Growth Stages Strongly Affected Root Growth of Bothriochloa ischaemum When Mixed With Lespedeza davurica Frontiers in Plant Science rewatering root morphology growth stage total root length root surface area mixture ratio |
| title | Soil Moisture Availability at Early Growth Stages Strongly Affected Root Growth of Bothriochloa ischaemum When Mixed With Lespedeza davurica |
| title_full | Soil Moisture Availability at Early Growth Stages Strongly Affected Root Growth of Bothriochloa ischaemum When Mixed With Lespedeza davurica |
| title_fullStr | Soil Moisture Availability at Early Growth Stages Strongly Affected Root Growth of Bothriochloa ischaemum When Mixed With Lespedeza davurica |
| title_full_unstemmed | Soil Moisture Availability at Early Growth Stages Strongly Affected Root Growth of Bothriochloa ischaemum When Mixed With Lespedeza davurica |
| title_short | Soil Moisture Availability at Early Growth Stages Strongly Affected Root Growth of Bothriochloa ischaemum When Mixed With Lespedeza davurica |
| title_sort | soil moisture availability at early growth stages strongly affected root growth of bothriochloa ischaemum when mixed with lespedeza davurica |
| topic | rewatering root morphology growth stage total root length root surface area mixture ratio |
| url | https://www.frontiersin.org/article/10.3389/fpls.2018.01050/full |
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