Journal article
Life span and structure of ephemeral root modules of different functional groups from a desert system
B Liu, J He, F Zeng, J Lei, SK Arndt
New Phytologist | WILEY | Published : 2016
DOI: 10.1111/nph.13880
Abstract
The terminal branch orders of plant root systems have been proposed as short-lived 'ephemeral' modules specialized for resource absorption. The occurrence of ephemeral root modules has so far only been reported for a temperate tree species and it is unclear if the concept also applies to other woody (shrub, tree) and herb species. Fine roots of 12 perennial dicotyledonous herb, shrub and tree species were monitored for two growing seasons using a branch-order classification, sequential sampling and rhizotrons in the Taklamakan desert. Two root modules existed in all three plant functional groups. Among the first five branch orders, the first two (perennial herbs, shrubs) or three (trees) roo..
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Awarded by National Natural Science Foundation of China
Funding Acknowledgements
We thank Dali Guo, Zeqing Ma, Yan Li, Xiaopeng Gao, Chengen Ma and Dongwei Gui for valuable comments and modifications regarding this paper; Gang Huang, Xinjun Zheng, Huiliang Liu, Xiaobing Zhou and Bo Zhang for valuable assistance with the data analysis; and Weicheng Luo, Changjun Li and Zichun Guo for assistance in the field and laboratory. We are also grateful to three anonymous reviewers for their helpful comments. This work was supported by the Key Program of Joint Foundation of the National Natural Science Foundation and the Government of Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region of China (no. U1203201), the National Natural Science Foundation of China (no. 31100144, 41371516), China Postdoctoral Science Foundation General Financial Grant (no. 2014M552523), and Xinjiang Postdoctoral Science Foundation General Financial Grant.