Abstract
Very limited information regarding fine-root growth and production of tropical dry forests is available. Fine roots and small roots are defined as rootlets with diameters < 1 mm and 1.1 to 5 mm, respectively. Live and dead fine-and small-root mass fluctuations were studied over one year by means of soil core analyses in the deciduous dry forest of Chamela, Mexico, at 19° 30′, 2 km inland from the Pacific Ocean. By means of systematically varying the distance of soil core extraction points from tree stems, it was shown that random core collection is justified. A difference between fine-root biomass on south and north facing slopes was documented, although this difference was significant only during the rainy season. The live/dead ratio of fine roots was highest during the rainy period. The annual fine-root production for 1989 was estimated at 4.23 Mg ha-1 by summing significant fine-root biomass changes between sampling dates. This value is higher than most of the comparable data from other ecosystems.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
BradburyD. E. 1977. In: ThrowerN. J. W. & BradburyD. E. (eds), Chile-California mediterranean scrub atlas, 76–81. Dowden Hutchinson & Ross, Inc., Strondsburg, Pennsylvania.
BullockS. 1986. Climate of Chamela, Jalisco, and trends in the South coastal region of México. Archives of Meteorology, Geography and Bioclimatology, Ser. B., 72: 551–582.
CervantesS. L., MaassM. & DominguezM. R. 1988. Relación lluvia-escurrimiento en un sistema pequeño de cucncas de la selva baja caducifolia. Ingeniería Hidraúlica en México 3(1): 30–42.
FairleyR. I. & AlexanderI. J. 1985. Methods of calculating fine root production in forests. In: FitterA. H. (ed), Ecological interactions in soil, Special publication Number 4 of the British Ecological Society, 37–42. Blackwell Scientific Publications, Oxford.
FogelR. & HuntG. 1983. Contribution of mycorrhizae and soil fungi to nutrient cycling in a Douglas-fir ecosystem. Can. J. For. Res. 13: 219–232.
GowerS. T. 1987. Relations between mineral nutrient availability and fine root biomass in two Costa Rican tropical forests: A hypothesis. Biotropica 19: 171–175.
HarrisW. F., KinersonR. S. & EdwardsN. T. 1977. Composition of belowground biomass dynamics of natural deciduous forests and managed loblolly pine plantation. Pedobiologia 17: 369–381.
KlingeH. 1973. Root mass estimation in lowland tropical rain forests of central Amazonia, Brazil. I. Fine root masses of a pale yellow latosol and a giant humus podzol. Tropical Ecology 14: 29–38.
KummerowJ., KrauseD. & JowW. 1978. Seasonal changes of fine-root density in southern Californian chaparral. Oecologia 37: 201–212.
Lott, E. J. 1985. Listado florístico de la Estación de Biologia Chamela. Instituto de Biología, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de Mexico.
MaassJ. M., JordanC. F. & SarukhanJ. 1988. Soil erosion and nutrient losses in seasonal tropical agroecosystems under various management techniques. Journal of Applied Ecology 25: 595–607.
Martinez, A. 1984. Procesos de producción y descomposición de hojarasca en selvas estacionales. Thesis de Maestro en Ciencias, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de Mexico, Facultad de Ciencias, 79 pp.
Mc ClaughertyC. A., AberJ. D. & MelilloJ. M. 1982. The role of fine roots in the organic matter and nitrogen budgets of two forest ecosystems. Ecology 63: 1481–1490.
MillerP. C. 1981. Similarities and limitations of resource utilization in mediterranean type ecosystems. In: MillerP. C. (ed), Resource use by chaparral and matorral, 369–407. Springer Verlag, New York, Heidelberg, Berlin.
MurphyP. G. & LugoA. E. 1986a. Ecology of tropical dry forest. Annual Review of Ecology and Systematics 17: 67–88.
MurphyP. G. & LugoA. E. 1986b. Structure and biomass of a subtropical dry forest in Puerto Rico. Biotropica 18: 89–96.
PerssonH. 1978. Root dynamics in a young Scots pine stand in Central Sweden. Oikos 30: 508–519.
PerssonH. 1980. Spatial distribution of fine-root growth, mortality and decomposition in a young Scots pine stand in Central Sweden. Oikos 34: 77–87.
RaichJ. W. & NadelhofferK. J. 1989. Belowground carbon allocation in forest ecosystems: Global trends. Ecology 70: 1346–1354.
ReynoldsE. R. C. 1970. Root distribution and the cause of its spatial variability inPseudotsuga taxifolia (Poir.) Brit. Plant and Soil 32: 501–517.
RzedowskiJ. 1978. Vegetación de México, 189–203. Editorial Limusa, Mexico, 432 pp.
SantantonioD. & GraceJ. C. 1987. Estimating fine-root production and turnover from biomass data: A compartment flow model. Can. J. For. Res. 17: 900–908.
SantantonioD. & SantantonioE. 1987. Effect of thinning on production and mortality of fine-roots in aPinus radiata plantation on a fertile site in New Zealand. Can. J. For. Res. 17: 919–928.
VogtK. A., MooreE. E., VogtD. J., RedlinM. J. & EdmondsR. L. 1983. Conifer fine-root and mycorrhizal root biomass within the forest floors of Douglas-fir stands of different ages and sitge productivities. Can. J. For. Res. 13: 429–437.
VogtK. A., GrierC. C. & VogtD. J. 1986. Production, turnover and nutrient dynamics of above- and belowground detritus of world forests. In: MacFadyenA. & FordE. D. (eds), Advances in Ecological Research, 303–377. Academic Press, London.
WeberW. A. 1972. Mnemonic three letter acronyms for the families of vascular plants: a device for more effective herbarium curation. Taxon 31: 74–88.
WilkinsonL. 1987. SYSTAT: The Sytem for Statistics.- Evanston, IL: SYSTAT, Inc.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Kummerow, J., Castillanos, J., Maas, M. et al. Production of fine roots and the seasonality of their growth in a Mexican deciduous dry forest. Vegetatio 90, 73–80 (1990). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00045590
Accepted:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00045590