Root biomass and root traits of Alnus glutinosa show size-dependent and opposite patterns in a drained and a rewetted forest peatland.

ABSTRACT:

Background and aims

Forest peatlands represent 25 % of global peatlands and store large amounts of carbon (C) as peat. Traditionally they have been drained in order to increase forestry yield, which may cause large losses of C from the peat. Rewetting aims to stop these losses and to restore the initial storage function of the peatlands. As roots represent major peat-forming elements in these systems, we sampled roots with diameter <5 mm in a drained and a rewetted forest peatland in north-east Germany to evaluate differences in tree biomass investments below ground, root functional characteristics and root age.

Methods

We cored soil next to Alnus glutinosa stems and sorted root biomass into <1, 1-2 and 2-5 mm diameter classes. We measured biomass distribution and specific r

SUBMITTER: Schwieger S 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC7872119 | biostudies-literature | 2021 Feb

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature