Summary Variations in fine root biomass of trees and understory in 16 stands throughout Finland were examined and relationships to site and stand characteristics determined. Nor-way spruce fine root biomass varied between 184 and 370 g m–2, and that of Scots pine ranged between 149 and 386 g m–2. In...
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| Format: | Text |
| Language: | English |
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| Online Access: | http://citeseerx.ist.psu.edu/viewdoc/summary?doi=10.1.1.600.4329 http://treephys.oxfordjournals.org/content/27/10/1493.full.pdf |
| Summary: | Summary Variations in fine root biomass of trees and understory in 16 stands throughout Finland were examined and relationships to site and stand characteristics determined. Nor-way spruce fine root biomass varied between 184 and 370 g m–2, and that of Scots pine ranged between 149 and 386 g m–2. In northern Finland, understory roots and rhizomes (< 2 mm di-ameter) accounted for up to 50 % of the stand total fine root bio-mass. Therefore, the fine root biomass of trees plus understory was larger in northern Finland in stands of both tree species, re-sulting in a negative relationship between fine root biomass and the temperature sum and a positive relationship between fine root biomass and the carbon:nitrogen ratio of the soil organic layer. The foliage:fine root ratio varied between 2.1 and 6.4 for Norway spruce and between 0.8 and 2.2 for Scots pine. The ra-tio decreased for both Norway spruce and Scots pine from south to north, as well as from fertile to more infertile site types. The foliage:fine root ratio of Norway spruce was related to basal area and stem surface area. The strong positive correla-tions of these three parameters with fine root nitrogen concen-tration implies that more fine roots are needed to maintain a certain amount of foliage when nutrient availability is low. No significant relationships were found between stand parameters and fine root biomass at the stand level, but the relationships considerably improved when both fine root biomass and stand parameters were calculated for the mean tree in the stand. When the northern and southern sites were analyzed sepa-rately, fine root biomass per tree of both species was signifi-cantly correlated with basal area and stem surface area per tree. Basal area, stem surface area and stand density can be esti-mated accurately and easily. Thus, our results may have value in predicting fine root biomass at the tree and stand level in bo-real Norway spruce and Scots pine forests. |
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