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Publication Type:
| Refereed |
Author(s): | Personeni, E.;
Loiseau, P. |
Author Affiliation: | Fonctionnement et Gestion de l'Ecosystème Prairial, Unité d'Agronomie, INRA, Domaine de Crouelle, France |
Title: | How does the nature of living and dead roots affect the residence time of carbon in the root litter continuum? |
Source: | Plant and Soil. Vol. 267, No. 1/2, December 2004, p. 129-141. |
Publishing Information: | Dordrecht, Netherlands: Kluwer Academic Publishers |
# of Pages: | 13 |
Related Web URL: | http://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s11104-005-4656-3 Last checked: 10/14/2015 Notes: Abstract only |
Keywords: | TIC Keywords: Carbon; Grasslands; Roots; Organic matter; Carbon to nitrogen ratio; Decomposition; Soil sampling; Fractionation; Dactylis; Lolium
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Abstract/Contents: | "Root litter transformation is an important determinant of the carbon cycle in grassland ecosystems. Litter quality and rhizosphere activity are species-dependent factors which depend on the attributes of the dead and living roots respectively. These factors were tested, using non-disturbed soil monoliths of Dactylis glomerata L. and Lolium perenne L. monocultures. 13C-labelled root litter from these monoliths was obtained from a first stand of each crop, cultivated under very δ13C-depleted atmospheric CO2 (S1). In a factorial design, 13C-labelled root litter of each species was submitted to a second, non 13C-labelled, living stand of each species (S2). Carbon derived from S1 and from S2 was measured during an 18-month incubation in the root phytomass and in three particulate organic matter fractions (POM). The decay rate of each particle size fraction was fitted to the experimental data in a mechanistic model of litter transformation, whose outputs were mineralisation and stabilisation of the litter-C. Few differences were found between species, in the amount and biochemical composition of the initial root litter, but Dactylis roots showed a greater C:N ratio, a lower mean root diameter and a greater specific root length compared to Lolium. A transient accumulation of litter residues arose successively in POM fractions of decreasing particle size. The litter-continuum hypothesis was validated, i.e. that the attributes of the compartments (C:N, chemical composition and residence time) depended mainly on their particle size. The S1 species influenced the rate of litter decay while the S2 species controlled the efficiency of litter-C stabilisation versus mineralisation: Dactylis litter decomposed faster and Lolium rhizosphere allowed a greater proportion of litter C stabilisation. Discussions focus on the processes responsible of species strategy in relation with the morphological root traits, and the implication of strategy diversity for rich grassland communities." |
Language: | English |
References: | 40 |
Note: | Figures Tables Graphs |
| ASA/CSSA/SSSA Citation (Crop Science-Like - may be incomplete): Personeni, E., and P. Loiseau. 2004. How does the nature of living and dead roots affect the residence time of carbon in the root litter continuum?. Plant Soil. 267(1/2):p. 129-141. |
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