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Withington JM, Elkin AD, Bułaj B, Olesiński J, Tracy KN, Bouma TJ, Oleksyn J, Anderson LJ, Modrzyński J, Reich PB, Eissenstat DM. The impact of material used for minirhizotron tubes for root research. New Phytol 2003; 160:533-544. [PMID: 33873660 DOI: 10.1046/j.1469-8137.2003.00903.x] [Citation(s) in RCA: 24] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 06/12/2023]
Abstract
• A wide variety of transparent materials are currently used for minirhizotron tubes. We tested the null hypothesis that minirhizotron composition does not influence root morphology and dynamics. • Minirhizotron data were compared for glass, acrylic and butyrate tubes in apple (Malus domestica) and acrylic and butyrate tubes in a study with six forest tree species. • Root phenology and morphology were generally similar among tubes. Apple root production was greatest against glass; these roots became pigmented later and lived longer than roots near acrylic or butyrate. Roots generally became pigmented faster next to butyrate than next to acrylic. Root survivorship was shorter near butyrate tubes in three of the four hardwood species; however, survivorship was shorter near acrylic tubes for the three conifer species. Comparison of minirhizotron standing crop data with root standing crop from cores showed that the acrylic data matched more closely than the butyrate data. • This study reveals that the transparent material used often has little effect on root production but can substantially influence root survivorship in some plants.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jennifer M Withington
- Intercollege Graduate Program in Ecology, The Pennsylvania State University, 103 Tyson Building, University Park, PA 16802-4200 USA
| | - Adrienne D Elkin
- Department of Horticulture, The Pennsylvania State University, 103 Tyson Building, University Park, PA 16802-4200 USA
| | - Bartosz Bułaj
- Department of Silviculture, Agricultural University of Poznań, ul. Wojska Polskiego 69, PL 60-625 Poznań, Poland
| | - Jakub Olesiński
- Department of Silviculture, Agricultural University of Poznań, ul. Wojska Polskiego 69, PL 60-625 Poznań, Poland
| | - Keena N Tracy
- Department of Horticulture, The Pennsylvania State University, 103 Tyson Building, University Park, PA 16802-4200 USA
| | - Tjeerd J Bouma
- Department of Horticulture, The Pennsylvania State University, 103 Tyson Building, University Park, PA 16802-4200 USA
- Present address: Netherlands Institute of Ecology, PO Box 140, NL-4400 AC Yerseke, The Netherlands
| | - Jacek Oleksyn
- Department of Forest Resources, The University of Minnesota, 115 Green Hall, 1530 Cleveland Avenue North, St Paul, MN 55108 USA
- Polish Academy of Sciences, Institute of Dendrology, Parkowa 5, PL 62-035 Kórnik, Poland
| | - Laurel J Anderson
- Department of Horticulture, The Pennsylvania State University, 103 Tyson Building, University Park, PA 16802-4200 USA
- Present address: Department of Botany and Microbiology, 104 Bigelow-Rice Hall, Ohio Wesleyan University, Delaware, OH 43015 USA
| | - Jerzy Modrzyński
- Department of Silviculture, Agricultural University of Poznań, ul. Wojska Polskiego 69, PL 60-625 Poznań, Poland
| | - Peter B Reich
- Department of Forest Resources, The University of Minnesota, 115 Green Hall, 1530 Cleveland Avenue North, St Paul, MN 55108 USA
| | - David M Eissenstat
- Intercollege Graduate Program in Ecology, The Pennsylvania State University, 103 Tyson Building, University Park, PA 16802-4200 USA
- Department of Horticulture, The Pennsylvania State University, 103 Tyson Building, University Park, PA 16802-4200 USA
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