Coarse roots play a critical role in forest ecosystems and both abiotic and biotic factors affect their spatial distribution.To some extent,coarse root density may reflect the quantity of root biomass and biotic competition in forests.However,using traditional methods(e.g.,excavation)to study coarse roots is challenging,because those methods are time-consuming and laborious.Furthermore,these destructive methods cannot be repeated in the same forests.Therefore,the discovery of non-destructive methods for root studies will be very significant.In this study,we used a ground-penetrating radar technique to detect the coarse root density of three habitats(ridge,slope and valley)and the dominant tree species(Castanopsis eyrei and Schima superba)in a subtropical forest.We found that(i)the mean of coarse root density for these three habitats was 88.04roots m–2,with roots being mainly distributed at depths of 0–40 cm.Coarse root densities were lower in deeper soils and in areas far from the trunk.(ii)Coarse root densities differed significantly among the three habitats studied here with slope habitat having the lowest coarse root density.Compared with S.superba,C.eyrei had more roots distributed in deeper soils.Furthermore,coarse roots with a diameter>3 cm occurred more frequently in the valleys,compared with root densities in ridge and slope habitats,and most coarse roots occurred at soil depths of 20–40 cm.(iii)The coarse root density correlated negatively with tree species richness at soil depths of 40–60 cm.The abundances of the dominant species,such as C.eyrei,Cyclobalanopsis glauca,Pinus massoniana,had significant impacts on coarse root density.(iv)The soil depth of 0–40 cm was the"basic distribution layer"for coarse roots since the majority of coarse roots were found in this soil layer with an average root density of 84.18 roots m–2,which had no significant linear relationships with topography,tree species richness,rarefied tree species richness and tree density.Significant relationships between coarse r
YAN HuiDONG XinLiangFENG GangZHANG ShouRenMUCCIARDI Anthony
Aims The aim of our research was to understand small-scale effects of topography and soil fertility on tree growth in a forest biodiversity and ecosystem functioning(BEF)experiment in subtropical SE China.Methods Geomorphometric terrain analyses were carried out at a spatial resolution of 5×5 m.Soil samples of different depth increments and data on tree height were collected from a total of 566 plots(667 m2 each).The soils were analyzed for carbon(soil organic carbon[SOC]),nitrogen,acidity,cation exchange capacity(CEC),exchangeable cations and base saturation as soil fertility attributes.All plots were classified into geomorphological units.Analyses of variance and linear regressions were applied to all terrain,soil fertility and tree growth attributes.Important Findings In general,young and shallow soils and relatively small differences in stable soil properties suggest that soil erosion has truncated the soils to a large extent over the whole area of the experiment.This explains the concurrently increasing CEC and SOC stocks downslope,in hollows and in valleys.However,colluvial,carbon-rich sediments are missing widely due to the convexity of the footslopes caused by uplift and removal of eroded sediments by adjacent waterways.The results showed that soil fertility is mainly influenced by topography.Monte-Carlo flow accumulation(MCCA),curvature,slope and aspect significantly affected soil fertility.Furthermore,soil fertility was affected by the different geomorphological positions on the experimental sites with ridge and spur positions showing lower exchangeable base cation contents,especially potassium(K),due to leaching.This geomorphological effect of soil fertility is most pronounced in the topsoil and decreases when considering the subsoil down to 50 cm depth.Few soil fertility attributes affect tree height after 1-2 years of growth,among which C stocks proved to be most important while pH_(KCl)and CEC only played minor roles.Nevertheless,soil acidity and a high proportion of Al on the exchange complex affe
