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Tree Physiology Advance Access originally published online on February 3, 2009
Tree Physiology 2009 29(4):579-585; doi:10.1093/treephys/tpn050
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© The Author 2009. Published by Oxford University Press. All rights reserved. For Permissions, please email: journals.permissions@oxfordjournals.org

Fine root morphological traits determine variation in root respiration of Quercus serrata

Naoki Makita1,2, Yasuhiro Hirano3, Masako Dannoura1,*, Yuji Kominami3, Takeo Mizoguchi3, Hiroaki Ishii1 and Yoichi Kanazawa1

1 Graduate School of Agricultural Science, Kobe University, Kobe 657-8501, Japan
2 Corresponding author (makita_701{at}yahoo.co.jp)
3 Kansai Research Center, Forestry and Forest Products Research Institute (FFPRI), Kyoto 612-0855, Japan


  Abstract

Fine root respiration is a significant component of carbon cycling in forest ecosystems. Although fine roots differ functionally from coarse roots, these root types have been distinguished based on arbitrary diameter cut-offs (e.g., 2 or 5 mm). Fine root morphology is directly related to physiological function, but few attempts have been made to understand the relationships between morphology and respiration of fine roots. To examine relationships between respiration rates and morphological traits of fine roots (0.15–1.4 mm in diameter) of mature Quercus serrata Murr., we measured respiration of small fine root segments in the field with a portable closed static chamber system. We found a significant power relationship between mean root diameter and respiration rate. Respiration rates of roots < 0.4 mm in mean diameter were high and variable, ranging from 3.8 to 11.3 nmol CO2 g–1 s–1, compared with those of larger diameter roots (0.4–1.4 mm), which ranged from 1.8 to 3.0 nmol CO2 g–1 s–1. Fine root respiration rate was positively correlated with specific root length (SRL) as well as with root nitrogen (N) concentration. For roots < 0.4 mm in diameter, SRL had a wider range (11.3–80.4 m g–1) and was more strongly correlated with respiration rate than diameter. Our results indicate that a more detailed classification of fine roots < 2.0 mm is needed to represent the heterogeneity of root respiration and to evaluate root biomass and root morphological traits.

Keywords: closed static chamber system, immediate field measurements, mean root diameter, root CO2 efflux, specific root length

Received August 17, 2008; Accepted December 9, 2008

* Present address: Graduate School of Agriculture, Kyoto University, Kyoto 606-8502, Japan.


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