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Shiro TSUYUZAKI
Plant community ecology / Environmental conservation

Mount Usu / Sarobetsu post-mined peatland
From left: Crater basin in 1986 and 2006. Cottongrass / Daylily

(Update on Nov. 31 2006. Revise on Oct. 8 2009)

Belowground

Root system

Rhizosphere: areas that are influenced by roots

Three types of root systems

Tree: secondary growth (auxetic growth)
Herb:

Dicotyledons: main root (taproot) + fine root (rootlet)

Fine root < φ 3-5 mm

Monocotyledons: adventitious root

The roles of roots
  1. Nutrient and water transportation
  2. Supporting system

Root1 Root2
[1] Dicotyledons (Glehnia littoralis). [2] Monocotyledons (Elymus mollis). At a seacoast in Hakodate City on September 24 2009.

-Carex kobomugi
Problems on the measurement of belowground organs

PS

1) Destructive methods - simple and widely used

excavation

Demerits:
monitoring is impossible
difficulty in the census of fine roots

The belowground systems on Polygonum sachalinense obsereved by excavation

2) Non-destructive methods - so far, it has been hard to do

water-culture or transparent pot culture

Demerits:
artifact must be considered

(mini)rhizotron

References
  • Johnson MG, Tingey DT, Phillips DL & Storm MJ. 2001. Advancing fine root research with minirhizotrons. Environmental and Experimental Botany 45: 263-289
  • Tsuyuzaki, S. 1989. Analysis of revegetation dynamics on the volcano Usu, northern Japan, deforested by 1977-78 eruptions. American Journal of Botany 76: 1468-1477

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