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
Root Community Traits: Scaling-Up and Incorporating Roots Into Ecosystem Functional Analyses.
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Plasticity of Root Traits under Competition for a Nutrient-Rich Patch Depends on Tree Species and Possesses a Large Congruency between Intra- and Interspecific Situations
TL;DR: By showing that both con- and allospecific roots had similar effects on target root growth and most trait values, this data sheds light on the paradigm that the intensity of intraspecific competition is greater than those of interspecific competition belowground.
Journal ArticleDOI
Specific root respiration of three plant species as influenced by storage time and conditions
TL;DR: In this paper, the effects of storage time and conditions on specific root respiration (RRS) measurements were investigated. And the results have important implications on measurement routines of RRS, a generally understudied root trait.
Journal ArticleDOI
Taxonomic and functional facets of the resilience to management of mown subalpine grasslands
Iris Lochon,Iris Lochon,Marie-Pascale Colace,Caroline Devaux,Karl Grigulis,Ricarda Rettinger,Ricarda Rettinger,Sandra Lavorel +7 more
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Range shifts in a foundation sedge potentially induce large Arctic ecosystem carbon losses and gains
Salvatore R. Curasi,Ned Fetcher,Rebecca E. Hewitt,Peter M. Lafleur,Michael M. Loranty,Michelle C. Mack,Jeremy L. May,Isla H. Myers-Smith,Susan M. Natali,Steven F. Oberbauer,Thomas C. Parker,Oliver Sonnentag,Sergio A. Vargas Zesati,Stan D. Wullschleger,Adrian V. Rocha +14 more
TL;DR: This article assessed the role of a foundation tussock sedge (Eriophorum vaginatum) as a climatically vulnerable C stock using field data, a machine learning ecological niche model, and an ensemble of terrestrial biosphere models.
References
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