Abstract
The present study deals with root architecture of 6-year-old trees of 9 indigenous and 3 exotic species growing in arid climate of north-western India. Observations, made on excavated root systems (3 tree replicates of each species) showed large variation in horizontal and vertical spread of roots. In Morus alba, Melia azedarach and Populus deltoides, the roots were confined to 80 cm, while in Prosopis cineraria, Acacia nilotica and Eucalyptus tereticornis, roots penetrated more deeply to 233 cm. The number of total roots ranged from 103 in Acacia catechu to 1932 in Eucalyptus tereticornis, and 62 to 80% of the roots were less than 2 mm in diameter. The primary roots were more horizontal than the secondary roots. The total root biomass varied from 2.2 kg in Acacia catechu to 30.6 kg−1 tree in Populus deltoides, and top 30 cm soil contained 42 to 78% of the total biomass. The implications of the results are discussed in the context of the ecological niche of the species, and its usefulness in agroforestry systems.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Atkinson D (1977) Some observations on the root growth of young apple trees and their uptake of nutrients when grown in herbicide strips in grassland orchards. Pl Soil 49: 459–471
Atkinson D (1983) The growth activity and distribution of the fruit tree root system. Pl Soil 71: 23–35
Berish CW (1982) Root biomass and surface area in three successional tropical forests. Can J For Res 12: 699–704
Bishnoi OP (1988) Agroclimatic Zones of Haryana. Department of Agricultural Meteorology, Haryana Agricultural University, Hisar, India. Publication No. 8, 157 pp
Bray JR (1963) Root production and the estimation of net productivity. Can J Bot 41: 65–72
Cannell MGR and Willet SC (1976) Shoot growth phenology, dry matter distribution and root: shoot ratios of provenances of Populus trichocarpa, Picea sitchensis and Pinus contorta growing in Scotland. Silvae Genet 25: 40–59
Coutts MP (1983) Development of the structural root system of sitka spruce. Forestry 56: 1–16
Eis S (1974) Root system morphology of western hemlock, western red cedar and douglas-fir. Can J For Res 4: 28–38
Fayle DCF (1975a) Extension and longitudinal growth during the development of red pine root systems. Can J For Res 5: 109–121
Fayle DCF (1975b) Distribution of radial growth during the development of red pine root systems. Can J For Res 5: 608–625
Fitter AH (1987) An architectural approach to the comparative ecology of plant root systems. New Phytol 106 (suppl): 61–77
Fogel R (1983) Root turnover and productivity of coniferous forests. Pl Soil 71: 75–85
Ford ED and Deans JD (1977) Growth of a sitka spruce plantation spatial distributioni and seasonal fluctuations of length weight and carbohydrate concentrations of fine roots. Pl Soil 47: 463–485
Harris WF, Kinerson RS and Edwards NT (1978) Comparisons of below-ground biomass of natural deciduous forest and loblolly pine plantations. Pedobiologia 7: 369–381
Huck MG (1983) Root distribution, growth and activity with reference to agroforestry. In: Huxley PA, ed, Plant Research and Agroforestry, pp 527–542. ICRAF, Nairobi, Kenya
Huxley PA (1983) Some characteristics of trees to be considered in agroforestry. In: Huxley PA, ed, Plant Research and Agroforestry, pp 3–12. ICRAF, Nairobi, Kenya
Kozlowski TT (1949) Light and water in relation to growth and competition of Piedmont forest tree species. Ecol Monogr 19: 207–231
Lieffers VJ and Rothwell RO (1987) Rooting of peatland black spruce and tamarack in relation to depth of water table. Can J Bot 65: 817–821
Von Maydell HJ (1987) Agroforestry in the dry zone of Africa: past, present and future. In: Steppler HA and Nair PKR, eds, Agroforestry: A Decade of Development, pp 89–116. ICRAF, Nairobi, Kenya
Moir WH and Bachelard EP (1969) Distribution of fine roots in three Pinus radiata stands near Canberra. Ecology 50: 658–662
Oldman RAA (1983) The design of ecologically sound agroforests. In: Huxley PA, ed, Plant Research and Agroforestry, pp 173–207. ICRAF, Nairobi, Kenya
Penka M (1965) Root-shoot ratio in irrigated plants. Biologia Plantarum 7: 129–135
Persson H (1978) Root dynamics in a young scots pine stand in central Sweden. Oikos 30: 508–519
Prasad R and Mishra GP (1984) Studies on root system of important tree species in dry deciduous teak forests of Sagar (M.P.). Ind J For 7: 171–177
Ramakrishnan PS and Shukla RP (1982) On the relation among growth strategies, allocation pattern, productivity and successional status of trees of a sub-tropical forest community. In: Khosla PK, ed, Improvement of Forest Biomass, pp 403–412. Indian Society of Tree Scientists, Solan, India
Roberts J (1976) A study of root distribution and growth in a Pinus silvestris L. (scots pine) plantation in east Anglia. Pl Soil 44: 607–621
Santantonio D, Hermann RK and Overton WW (1977) Root biomass studies in forest ecosystems. Pedobiologia 17: 1–31
Savill PS (1976) The effect of drainage and ploughing of surface water gleys on rooting and wind throw of sitka spruce in northern Ireland. Forestry 49: 133–141
Shukla RP and Ramakrishnan PS (1984) Biomass allocation strategies and productivity of tropical trees related to successional status. For Ecol Manage 9: 315–324
Srivastava SK, Singh KP and Upadhyay RS (1986) Fine root growth dynamics in teak (Tectona grandis Linn. F.). Can J For Res 16: 1360–1364
Toky OP, Kumar P and Khosla PK (1989a) Structure and function of traditional agroforestry systems in the western Himalaya. I. Biomass and productivity. Agroforestry Syst 9: 47–70
Toky OP, Kumar P and Khosla PK (1989b) Structure and function of traditional agroforestry systems in the western Himalaya. II. Nutrient cycling. Agroforestry Syst 9: 71–89
Woods FW (1957) Factors limiting root penetrationi in deep sands of south western coastal plain. Ecology 38: 357–359
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Toky, O.P., Bisht, R.P. Observations on the rooting patterns of some agroforestry trees in an arid region of north-western India. Agroforest Syst 18, 245–263 (1992). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00123320
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00123320