A global Fine-Root Ecology Database to address below-ground challenges in plant ecology.
Colleen M. Iversen,M. Luke McCormack,A. Shafer Powell,Christopher B. Blackwood,Grégoire T. Freschet,Jens Kattge,Catherine Roumet,Daniel B Stover,Nadejda A. Soudzilovskaia,Oscar J. Valverde-Barrantes,Oscar J. Valverde-Barrantes,Peter M. van Bodegom,Cyrille Violle +12 more
TLDR
This Viewpoint addresses the need for a centralized fine-root trait database, and introduces the Fine-Root Ecology Database (FRED), which so far includes > 70 000 observations encompassing a broad range of root traits and also includes associated environmental data.Abstract:
Variation and tradeoffs within and among plant traits are increasingly being harnessed by empiricists and modelers to understand and predict ecosystem processes under changing environmental conditions. While fine roots play an important role in ecosystem functioning, fine-root traits are underrepresented in global trait databases. This has hindered efforts to analyze fine-root trait variation and link it with plant function and environmental conditions at a global scale. This Viewpoint addresses the need for a centralized fine-root trait database, and introduces the Fine-Root Ecology Database (FRED, http://roots.ornl.gov) which so far includes > 70 000 observations encompassing a broad range of root traits and also includes associated environmental data. FRED represents a critical step toward improving our understanding of below-ground plant ecology. For example, FRED facilitates the quantification of variation in fine-root traits across root orders, species, biomes, and environmental gradients while also providing a platform for assessments of covariation among root, leaf, and wood traits, the role of fine roots in ecosystem functioning, and the representation of fine roots in terrestrial biosphere models. Continued input of observations into FRED to fill gaps in trait coverage will improve our understanding of changes in fine-root traits across space and time.read more
Citations
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Journal ArticleDOI
The Economics Spectrum Drives Root Trait Strategies in Mediterranean Vegetation
Enrique G. de la Riva,José Ignacio Querejeta,Rafael Villar,Ignacio Manuel Pérez-Ramos,Teodoro Marañón,Javier Galán Díaz,Sergio de Tomás Marín,Iván Prieto,Iván Prieto +8 more
TL;DR: In this article, a database of 320 Mediterranean woody and herbaceous species was used to assess if the classic economics spectrum theory can be broadly extended to roots, and the authors advocate for the need to unify and standardise the criteria and approaches used within the economics framework between leaves and roots, for the sake of theoretical consistency.
Journal ArticleDOI
A global map of root biomass across the world's forests
Yuanyuan Huang,Yuanyuan Huang,P. Ciais,Maurizio Santoro,David Makowski,Jérôme Chave,Dmitry Schepaschenko,Dmitry Schepaschenko,Dmitry Schepaschenko,R. Z. Abramoff,Daniel S. Goll,Hui Yang,Ye Chen,Wei Wei,S. L. Piao,S. L. Piao,S. L. Piao +16 more
TL;DR: Huang et al. as discussed by the authors combined 10,307 field measurements of forest root biomass worldwide with global observations of forest structure, climatic conditions, topography, land management and soil characteristics to derive a spatially-explicit global high-resolution ( ∼ 1 km) root biomass dataset, including fine and coarse roots.
Journal ArticleDOI
Filling gaps in our understanding of belowground plant traits across the world: an introduction to a Virtual Issue.
Journal ArticleDOI
Reviews and syntheses: The promise of big diverse soil data, moving current practices towards future potential
Kathe Todd-Brown,R. Z. Abramoff,Jeffrey Beem-Miller,Hava K. Blair,Stevan Earl,Kristen J. Frederick,Daniel R. Fuka,Mario Antonio Guevara Santamaría,Jennifer W. Harden,Katherine Heckman,Li Heran,James R. Holmquist,Alison M. Hoyt,David H. Klinges,David LeBauer,Avni Malhotra,Shelby C. McClelland,Lucas E. Nave,Katherine Rocci,Sean M. Schaeffer,Shane Stoner,Natasja van Gestel,Sophie F. von Fromm,Marisa L. Younger +23 more
TL;DR: Current practices in soil data synthesis across all stages of database creation: availability, input, harmonization, curation, and publication are summarized and new soil-focused semantic tools to improve existing data pipelines are suggested.
Posted ContentDOI
Testing Finch\'s hypothesis: the role of organismal modularity on the escape from actuarial senescence
Connor Bernard,Aldo Compagnoni,Roberto Salguero-Gómez,Roberto Salguero-Gómez,Roberto Salguero-Gómez +4 more
TL;DR: A comparative analysis reveals that plant species that are more modular do indeed tend to escape from senescence more often than those that are unitary, and identifies new research directions related to age-dependent mortality factors.
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