Functional Traits of Pinus ponderosa Coarse Roots in Response to Slope Conditions.

ABSTRACT: We excavated the root systems of Pinus ponderosa trees growing on a steeply sloped, volcanic ash-influenced soil in the northern Rocky Mountains of the United States to assess their functional coarse-root traits and root system architecture. Trees, outplanted as one-year-old seedlings from a container nursery, were in their 32nd growing season on the site. We found that the trees had deployed more roots, in terms of length and volume, in the downslope and windward quadrants than in their upslope and leeward quadrants, likely a response to mechanical forces toward improving stability. Moreover, we observed the development of three types of root cages (tight, enlarged, and diffused) that likely reflect micro-site characteristics. As the cage type transitioned from tight to enlarged to

SUBMITTER: Dumroese RK 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC6682592 | biostudies-literature | 2019

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature