Root production, mortality and turnover in soil profiles as affected by clipping in a temperate grassland on the Loess Plateau

doi:10.1093/jpe/rtz039

	Root production, mortality and turnover in soil profiles as affected by clipping in a temperate grassland on the Loess Plateau
	Wei, Lin 2; Yao, Pengwei 1; Jing, Guanghua 3; Ye, Xiefeng 1; Cheng, Jimin 3
刊名	JOURNAL OF PLANT ECOLOGY
	2019-12-01
卷号	12 期号:6 页码:1059-1072
关键词	clipping root dynamics vertical root distribution seasonal variation in root growth temperate grassland
ISSN号	1752-9921
DOI	10.1093/jpe/rtz039
通讯作者	Ye, Xiefeng(yexiefeng@163.com) ; Cheng, Jimin(gyzcjm@ms.iswc.ac.cn)
英文摘要	Aims Clipping or mowing for hay, as a prevalent land-use practice, is considered to be an important component of global change. Root production and turnover in response to clipping have great implications for the plant survival strategy and grassland ecosystem carbon processes. However, our knowledge about the clipping effect on root dynamics is mainly based on root living biomass, and limited by the lack of spatial and temporal observations. The study aim was to investigate the effect of clipping on seasonal variations in root length production and mortality and their distribution patterns in different soil layers in semiarid grassland on the Loess Plateau. Methods Clipping was performed once a year in June to mimic the local spring livestock grazing beginning from 2014. The minirhizotron technique was used to monitor the root production, mortality and turnover rate at various soil depths (0-10, 10-20, 20-30 and 30-50 cm) in 2014 (from 30 May to 29 October) and 2015 (from 22 April to 25 October). Soil temperature and moisture in different soil layers were also measured during the study period. Important Findings Our results showed that: (i) Clipping significantly decreased the cumulative root production (P < 0.05) and increased the cumulative root mortality and turnover rates of the 0-50 cm soil profile for both years. (ii) Clipping induced an immediate and sharp decrease in root length production and an increase in root length mortality in all soil layers. However, with plant regrowth, root production increased and root mortality decreased gradually, with the root production at a depth of 30-50 cm even exceeding the control in September-October 2014 and April-May 2015. (iii) Clipping mainly reduced root length production and increased root length mortality in the upper 0-20 cm soil profile with rapid root turnover. However, roots at deeper soil layers were either little influenced by clipping or exhibited an opposite trend with slower turnover rate compared with the upper soil profile, leading to the downward transport of root production and living root biomass. These findings indicate that roots in deeper soil layers tend to favour higher root biomass and longer fine root life spans to maximize the water absorption efficiency under environmental stress, and also suggest that short-term clipping would reduce the amount of carbon through fine root litter into the soil, especially in the shallow soil profile.
资助项目	'Mechanisms of grassland degradation and integrative demonstration of their ecological restoration technology in the agro-pastoral transitional zone of the northern China' of the National Key Research and Development Program of China[2016YFC0500700] ; 'Spatial scale effect of land use impact on runoff in the Loess Plateau under climate change' of the National Natural Science Foundation of China[41230852] ; 'Strategic Priority Research Program-Climate Change: Carbon Budget and Related Issues' of the Chinese Academy of Sciences[XDA05050202]
WOS关键词	NET PRIMARY PRODUCTIVITY ; INNER-MONGOLIA ; NITROGEN ; RESPONSES ; DYNAMICS ; RESPIRATION ; BIOMASS ; GROWTH ; ALLOCATION ; CARBON
WOS研究方向	Plant Sciences ; Environmental Sciences & Ecology ; Forestry
语种	英语
出版者	OXFORD UNIV PRESS
WOS记录号	WOS:000503278500013
资助机构	'Mechanisms of grassland degradation and integrative demonstration of their ecological restoration technology in the agro-pastoral transitional zone of the northern China' of the National Key Research and Development Program of China ; 'Spatial scale effect of land use impact on runoff in the Loess Plateau under climate change' of the National Natural Science Foundation of China ; 'Strategic Priority Research Program-Climate Change: Carbon Budget and Related Issues' of the Chinese Academy of Sciences
内容类型	期刊论文
源URL	[http://ir.igsnrr.ac.cn/handle/311030/131168]
专题	中国科学院地理科学与资源研究所
通讯作者	Ye, Xiefeng; Cheng, Jimin
作者单位	1.Henan Agr Univ, Dept Tobacco Sci, Coll Tobacco Sci, Zhengzhou 450002, Henan, Peoples R China 2.Henan Agr Univ, Dept Environm, Coll Forestry, Zhengzhou 450002, Henan, Peoples R China 3.Chinese Acad Sci & Minist Water Resources, Inst Soil & Water Conservat, Yangling 712100, Shaanxi, Peoples R China
推荐引用方式 GB/T 7714	Wei, Lin,Yao, Pengwei,Jing, Guanghua,et al. Root production, mortality and turnover in soil profiles as affected by clipping in a temperate grassland on the Loess Plateau[J]. JOURNAL OF PLANT ECOLOGY,2019,12(6):1059-1072.
APA	Wei, Lin,Yao, Pengwei,Jing, Guanghua,Ye, Xiefeng,&Cheng, Jimin.(2019).Root production, mortality and turnover in soil profiles as affected by clipping in a temperate grassland on the Loess Plateau.JOURNAL OF PLANT ECOLOGY,12(6),1059-1072.
MLA	Wei, Lin,et al."Root production, mortality and turnover in soil profiles as affected by clipping in a temperate grassland on the Loess Plateau".JOURNAL OF PLANT ECOLOGY 12.6(2019):1059-1072.