Fine-root dynamics vary with soil depth and precipitation in a low-nutrient tropical forest in the Central Amazonia.

ABSTRACT: A common assumption in tropical ecology is that root systems respond rapidly to climatic cues but that most of that response is limited to the uppermost layer of the soil, with relatively limited changes in deeper layers. However, this assumption has not been tested directly, preventing models from accurately predicting the response of tropical forests to environmental change.We measured seasonal dynamics of fine roots in an upper-slope plateau in Central Amazonia mature forest using minirhizotrons to 90 cm depth, which were calibrated with fine roots extracted from soil cores.Root productivity and mortality in surface soil layers were positively correlated with precipitation, whereas root standing length was greater during the dry periods at the deeper layers. Contrary to historical assum

SUBMITTER: Cordeiro AL 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC10168058 | biostudies-literature | 2020 Jun

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature