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Longevity and turnover of roots in the shortgrass steppe: influence of diameter and depth
Abstract
We used minirhizotrons to determine patterns of root longevity and turnover for the perennial bunchgrass Bouteloua gracilis in the shortgrass steppe of eastern Colorado, USA. We hypothesized that root longevity would be partially controlled by root diameter, following previously observed patterns in woody plants. In addition, we hypothesized that root turnover would be greatest in surface soil horizons and decrease with depth due to variation in soil moisture availability and temperture. Root longevity was correlated with root diameter. Median life span of roots > 0.4 mm was approximately 320 days, while roots < 0.2 mm had a median life span of 180 days. There was approximately a 6% decrease in the likelihood of mortality with a 0.10-mm increase in root diameter, controlling for the effect of depth in the soil profile. Root length production and mortality were highest in the upper 20 cm of the soil profile and decreased with depth. However, because root length density also decreased with depth, there were no significant differences in turnover rate of root length among sampling intervals. Turnover was approximately 0.86 yr-1 based on root length production, while turnover was 0.35 yr-1 using root length mortality as a measurement of flux. The imbalance between turnover estimates may be a consequence of the time the minirhizotrons were in place prior to imaging or may result from our lack of over-winter measures of mortality. Our work suggests that Bouteloua gracilis roots have complex life history strategies, similar to woody species. Some portion of the root system is highly ephemeral, while slightly larger roots persist much longer. These differences have implications for belowground carbon and nitrogen cycles in the shortgrass steppe.
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Belowground biomass components enter soil organic carbon pools dependent on their mortality and longevity.
“BGB components will enter the SOC pools dependent on their mortality/longevity [30–32].”
From Carbon Sequestration by Perennial Energy Crops: Is the Jury Still Out? (2015) · cites this paper as [31]
Longevity of roots and their turnover depends on root diameter.
“however, longevity of roots and their turnover depends on root diameter [30, 31].”
From Carbon Sequestration by Perennial Energy Crops: Is the Jury Still Out? (2015) · cites this paper as [31]
Longevity of roots varies greatly and is likely controlled by diameter.
“Longevity of roots was found to vary greatly [30], likely to be controlled by diameter [31].”
From Carbon Sequestration by Perennial Energy Crops: Is the Jury Still Out? (2015) · cites this paper as [31]
Belowground biomass can die and start to decompose at different ages with different decay rates dependent on size and environmental conditions.
“BGB can die and start to decompose at different ages with different decay rates dependent on size and environmental conditions [31, 104].”
From Carbon Sequestration by Perennial Energy Crops: Is the Jury Still Out? (2015) · cites this paper as [31]
Root dry matter in the surface horizon is an order of magnitude larger than in the subsoil.
“Root dry matter in the surface horizon is an order of magnitude larger than in the subsoil [31, 32, 80, 84].”
From Carbon Sequestration by Perennial Energy Crops: Is the Jury Still Out? (2015) · cites this paper as [31]
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Metadata
- Authors
- Gill, R. A., Burke, I. C., Lauenroth, W. K., & Milchunas, D. G.
- Affiliations
- Duke University (US)
- Colorado State University (US)
- Corresponding author
- Gill, Richard A.
- Venue
- Plant Ecology
- Published
- 2002-04
- Volume
- 159
- Issue
- 2
- Pages
- 241-251
- ISSN
- 1385-0237 (ISSN-L)
- 1573-5052
- OpenAlex
- W34338265
- Cited by
- 110
- References
- 65
- Citations by year
- 2026: 2 · 2025: 5 · 2024: 2 · 2023: 8 · 2022: 7 · 2020: 4 · 2019: 6 · 2018: 7 · 2017: 5 · 2016: 4 · 2015: 4 · 2014: 6 · 2013: 5 · 2012: 5
- FWCI
- 5.62
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- closed
- Licence
- Locations
- Plant Ecology (publishedVersion)
- Funders
- U.S. Department of Agriculture
- Topics
- Life Sciences › Agricultural and Biological Sciences › Soil Science › Soil Carbon and Nitrogen Dynamics
- Physical Sciences › Environmental Science › Global and Planetary Change › Plant Water Relations and Carbon Dynamics
- Life Sciences › Agricultural and Biological Sciences › Agronomy and Crop Science › Pasture and Agricultural Systems
- Keywords
- root longevity, root turnover, root diameter, root depth, Bouteloua gracilis, shortgrass steppe, perennial bunchgrasses, root mortality, root length density, soil moisture, soil temperature, belowground carbon cycling
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