The belowground biomass is represented by coarse and fine roots. Concentrated in the superficial horizons of the soil, the fine roots play a crucial role in the functioning of a forest ecosystem. However, studies on t...The belowground biomass is represented by coarse and fine roots. Concentrated in the superficial horizons of the soil, the fine roots play a crucial role in the functioning of a forest ecosystem. However, studies on their dynamics in natural forests are almost non-existent in the Republic of Congo. Here, we estimated the biomass, production, turnover and fine root lifespan of two forest strata of a semi-deciduous forest: the <i><span style="font-family:Verdana;">Gilbertiodendron dewevrei</span></i><span style="font-family:Verdana;"> (De Wild.) J. Léonard forest (GF) and the mixed forest (MF) of land. The ingrowth cores method was used to estimate the biomass, production, turnover and lifespan of fine roots. The results of this study revealed that the biomass, production and fine root turnover of the two forest strata studied significantly decreased with increasing soil depth, with an increase in lifespan. The annual fine root biomass of GF (2284.50 ± 37.62 <img src="Edit_990c94b6-013e-4e21-90df-d1388dc0e65f.png" alt="" /></span><span style="font-family:Verdana;"> and 1034.61 ± 14.52 <img src="Edit_dff42540-5a2f-413b-8620-cb500e9961e2.png" alt="" /></span><span style="font-family:Verdana;">) was slightly lower than that of MF (2430.07 ± 40.68 <img src="Edit_66800589-8460-4c37-83b2-2df0f335d75d.png" alt="" /></span><span style="font-family:Verdana;"> and 1043.10 ± 11.75 <img src="Edit_c22f255e-d910-4b49-a6a4-033516044362.png" alt="" /></span><span style="font-family:Verdana;">) in the 0-15 cm and 15-30 cm horizons, respectively. The annual production of fine roots from these latter horizons was respectively 1300.19 ± 32.17 <img src="Edit_5482204b-8e9e-476a-907d-0865bf3a1c99.png" alt="" /></span><span style="font-family:Verdana;"> and 539.18 ± 11.55 <img src="Edit_65a2856e-5322-4fc9-b42a-3ba1176fa992.png" alt="" /></span><span style="font-family:Verdana;"> in GF and 1362.24 ± 39.59 <img src="Edit_9802e464-658d-48eb-9b57-8e746c3e8ef4.png" alt="" /></span><span style="font-family:Verdana;"> and 492.95 ± 14.38 <img src="Edit_51413fca-930c-45b9-a385-2b55d4d2bac8.png" alt="" /></span><span style="font-family:Verdana;"> in the MF. Root turnover was higher in the GF (1.68 ± 0.05 <img src="Edit_ce9d780c-6a46-46c4-aad2-653309318e29.png" alt="" /></span><span style="font-family:Verdana;"> and 1.35 ± 0.03 <img src="Edit_d66d8b7b-c608-4398-9441-e85547f03dea.png" alt="" /></span><span style="font-family:Verdana;">) than in the MF (1.57 ± 0.05 <img src="Edit_cb79094f-88a0-401c-a3e7-06eedb2cef9a.png" alt="" /></span><span style="font-family:Verdana;"> and 1.13 ± 0.02 <img src="Edit_e4f9b6d7-2e2e-44d5-8662-862b8f8ff80e.png" alt="" /></span><span style="font-family:Verdana;">). The lifespan of fine roots increased with the depth of the soil. The difference in fine root dynamics observed between the forest strata studied was influenced by the Evenness index and the above-ground biomass.</span>展开更多
文摘The belowground biomass is represented by coarse and fine roots. Concentrated in the superficial horizons of the soil, the fine roots play a crucial role in the functioning of a forest ecosystem. However, studies on their dynamics in natural forests are almost non-existent in the Republic of Congo. Here, we estimated the biomass, production, turnover and fine root lifespan of two forest strata of a semi-deciduous forest: the <i><span style="font-family:Verdana;">Gilbertiodendron dewevrei</span></i><span style="font-family:Verdana;"> (De Wild.) J. Léonard forest (GF) and the mixed forest (MF) of land. The ingrowth cores method was used to estimate the biomass, production, turnover and lifespan of fine roots. The results of this study revealed that the biomass, production and fine root turnover of the two forest strata studied significantly decreased with increasing soil depth, with an increase in lifespan. The annual fine root biomass of GF (2284.50 ± 37.62 <img src="Edit_990c94b6-013e-4e21-90df-d1388dc0e65f.png" alt="" /></span><span style="font-family:Verdana;"> and 1034.61 ± 14.52 <img src="Edit_dff42540-5a2f-413b-8620-cb500e9961e2.png" alt="" /></span><span style="font-family:Verdana;">) was slightly lower than that of MF (2430.07 ± 40.68 <img src="Edit_66800589-8460-4c37-83b2-2df0f335d75d.png" alt="" /></span><span style="font-family:Verdana;"> and 1043.10 ± 11.75 <img src="Edit_c22f255e-d910-4b49-a6a4-033516044362.png" alt="" /></span><span style="font-family:Verdana;">) in the 0-15 cm and 15-30 cm horizons, respectively. The annual production of fine roots from these latter horizons was respectively 1300.19 ± 32.17 <img src="Edit_5482204b-8e9e-476a-907d-0865bf3a1c99.png" alt="" /></span><span style="font-family:Verdana;"> and 539.18 ± 11.55 <img src="Edit_65a2856e-5322-4fc9-b42a-3ba1176fa992.png" alt="" /></span><span style="font-family:Verdana;"> in GF and 1362.24 ± 39.59 <img src="Edit_9802e464-658d-48eb-9b57-8e746c3e8ef4.png" alt="" /></span><span style="font-family:Verdana;"> and 492.95 ± 14.38 <img src="Edit_51413fca-930c-45b9-a385-2b55d4d2bac8.png" alt="" /></span><span style="font-family:Verdana;"> in the MF. Root turnover was higher in the GF (1.68 ± 0.05 <img src="Edit_ce9d780c-6a46-46c4-aad2-653309318e29.png" alt="" /></span><span style="font-family:Verdana;"> and 1.35 ± 0.03 <img src="Edit_d66d8b7b-c608-4398-9441-e85547f03dea.png" alt="" /></span><span style="font-family:Verdana;">) than in the MF (1.57 ± 0.05 <img src="Edit_cb79094f-88a0-401c-a3e7-06eedb2cef9a.png" alt="" /></span><span style="font-family:Verdana;"> and 1.13 ± 0.02 <img src="Edit_e4f9b6d7-2e2e-44d5-8662-862b8f8ff80e.png" alt="" /></span><span style="font-family:Verdana;">). The lifespan of fine roots increased with the depth of the soil. The difference in fine root dynamics observed between the forest strata studied was influenced by the Evenness index and the above-ground biomass.</span>