Abstract
Recent studies have reported positive net diversity effects on aboveground tree growth. However, whether similar effects occur belowground through root investment, and whether such effects are related to evergreenness of tree communities, is less clear. Here we studied vertical distribution of standing fine root biomass of twelve North American temperate tree species planted in a common garden tree diversity experiment of varying species richness and evergreenness to test whether belowground niche complementarity of trees could explain positive diversity effects reported aboveground. We tested two alternative hypotheses: trees in mixtures increase uptake of soil resources (1) by increasing vertical root stratification and/or producing a greater fine root density (mg cm−3) or (2) by producing similar or fewer fine roots that are potentially more efficient. Additionally, we hypothesized that proportional allocation to belowground biomass increases with evergreenness of tree communities. Fine roots were sampled in six layers of 5–10 cm, from 0 to 40 cm depth in single-, two- and four-species mixtures. We did not observe an effect of species richness on rooting depth or root density, refuting the hypothesis that aboveground overyielding in tree mixtures is linked to fine root overyielding. Rather, we observed a significant negative diversity effect (− 7.6%) on total fine root density, suggesting overall less investment to fine roots with increasing diversity. The strong positive effect of evergreeness on proportional allocation to fine roots over aboveground parts suggests that deciduous tree roots may be generally more efficient at absorbing soil resources, at least in the early years after tree establishment.
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Data availability statement
The data generated during the current study are not yet publicly available but are available from the corresponding author on reasonable request.
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Acknowledgements
We are indebted to numerous field and lab assistants who helped with the intense root sampling and washing campaign, and the weeding of the experiment over 3 years. This research was supported by a Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada Discovery Grant and Fonds de recherche du Québec equipment grant to ITH, a Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council Collaborative Research Development Grant to CM, a Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council Discovery Grant to AM, and a Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council Collaborative Research and Training Experience scholarship in Forest Complexity Modeling to CA. We thank other collaborators in the IDENT network for stimulating exchanges through various stages of the project.
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All authors conceived and designed the study. CA and RK led the field and lab work. AP, CA and RK analysed the data. RK, CA, AP and ITH prepared the figures. ITH, AP and CM led the writing of the manuscript assisted by CA. RK and AM provided editorial advice.
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Communicated by Brian J. Wilsey.
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Archambault, C., Paquette, A., Messier, C. et al. Evergreenness influences fine root growth more than tree diversity in a common garden experiment. Oecologia 189, 1027–1039 (2019). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00442-019-04373-5
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00442-019-04373-5