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Volume 8
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10.3390/plants8070199
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Article

Intraspecific Fine-Root Trait-Environment Relationships across Interior Douglas-Fir Forests of Western Canada

by
Camille E. Defrenne
1,*, 2, 3, 4 and 1
1
Department of Forest and Conservation Sciences, Faculty of Forestry, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, BC V6T 1Z4, Canada
2
Center for Tree Science, The Morton Arboretum, Lisle, IL 60532, USA
3
Skyline Forestry Consultants Ltd., Kamloops, BC V2C 1A2, Canada
4
CSIR-Forestry Research Institute of Ghana, KNUST, P. O. Box 63, Kumasi, Ghana
*
Author to whom correspondence should be addressed.
Plants 2019, 8(7), 199; https://doi.org/10.3390/plants8070199
Received: 3 June 2019 / Revised: 25 June 2019 / Accepted: 28 June 2019 / Published: 30 June 2019
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Root System Structure and Function: A Themed Issue in Honor of Professor Yoav Waisel)
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Abstract

Variation in resource acquisition strategies enables plants to adapt to different environments and may partly determine their responses to climate change. However, little is known about how belowground plant traits vary across climate and soil gradients. Focusing on interior Douglas-fir (Pseudotsuga menziesii var. glauca) in western Canada, we tested whether fine-root traits relate to the environment at the intraspecific level. We quantified the variation in commonly measured functional root traits (morphological, chemical, and architectural traits) among the first three fine-root orders (i.e., absorptive fine roots) and across biogeographic gradients in climate and soil factors. Moderate but consistent trait-environment linkages occurred across populations of Douglas-fir, despite high levels of within-site variation. Shifts in morphological traits across regions were decoupled from those in chemical traits. Fine roots in colder/drier climates were characterized by a lower tissue density, higher specific area, larger diameter, and lower carbon-to-nitrogen ratio than those in warmer/wetter climates. Our results showed that Douglas-fir fine roots do not rely on adjustments in architectural traits to adapt rooting strategies in different environments. Intraspecific fine-root adjustments at the regional scale do not fit along a single axis of root economic strategy and are concordant with an increase in root acquisitive potential in colder/drier environments. View Full-Text
Keywords: belowground; biogeographic gradient; Douglas-fir; fine root; mycorrhizal fungi; plant traits; root diameter; root economics; root tissue density belowground; biogeographic gradient; Douglas-fir; fine root; mycorrhizal fungi; plant traits; root diameter; root economics; root tissue density
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MDPI and ACS Style

Defrenne, C.E.; McCormack, M.L.; Roach, W.J.; Addo-Danso, S.D.; Simard, S.W. Intraspecific Fine-Root Trait-Environment Relationships across Interior Douglas-Fir Forests of Western Canada. Plants 2019, 8, 199. https://doi.org/10.3390/plants8070199

AMA Style

Defrenne CE, McCormack ML, Roach WJ, Addo-Danso SD, Simard SW. Intraspecific Fine-Root Trait-Environment Relationships across Interior Douglas-Fir Forests of Western Canada. Plants. 2019; 8(7):199. https://doi.org/10.3390/plants8070199

Chicago/Turabian Style

Defrenne, Camille E.; McCormack, M. L.; Roach, W. J.; Addo-Danso, Shalom D.; Simard, Suzanne W. 2019. "Intraspecific Fine-Root Trait-Environment Relationships across Interior Douglas-Fir Forests of Western Canada" Plants 8, no. 7: 199. https://doi.org/10.3390/plants8070199

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