The contribution of savannas to global carbon storage is poorly understood, in part due to lack of knowledge of the amount of belowground biomass. In these ecosystems, the coexistence of woody and herbaceous life forms is often explained on the basis of belowground interactions among roots. However, the distribution of root biomass in savannas has seldom been investigated, and the dependence of...

Seasonal drought in tropical moist forest may be the cue for fine root death and turnover, and it may signal root growth deeper to access subsurface water and (or) nutrients. We examined these predictions by measuring fine root biomass ( 2 mm diam.) and the timing of root growth and disappearance in an old growth tropical moist forest on Barro Colorado Island (BCI), Republic of Panama, in the f...

Environmental stress, particularly drought stress can play an important role in reducing plant growth especially during the germination stage in arid and semi-arid regions in Iran. For cultivation of medicinal plants in arid and semi-arid areas, the assessment of their tolerance is very important. In this research, in order to evaluate the effects of salicylic acid pretreatment on enhancement o...

Traditional methods o f measuring tree root biomass are labor intensive and destructive in nature. We studied the utility of ground-penetrating radar (GPR) to measure tree root biomass in situ within a replicated, intensive culture forestry experiment planted with loblolly pine (Pinus tneda L.). The study site was located in Decatur County, Georgia, in an area of the Troup and Lucy (loamy, kaol...

The spontaneous translocation of the short arm of chromosome 1 of rye (1RS) in bread wheat is associated with higher root biomass and grain yield. Recent studies have confirmed the presence of QTL for different root morphological traits on the 1RS arm in bread wheat. This study was conducted to address two questions in wheat root genetics. First, does the presence of the 1RS arm in bread wheat ...

Snow cover is projected to decline during the next century in many ecosystems that currently experience a seasonal snowpack. Because snow insulates soils from frigid winter air temperatures, soils are expected to become colder and experience more winter soil freeze-thaw cycles as snow cover continues to decline. Tree roots are adversely affected by snowpack reduction, but whether loss of snow w...

This study aimed to estimate the combining ability, of T. cacao genotypes preselected for drought tolerance through diallel crosses. The experiment was conducted under greenhouse conditions at the Cacao Research Center (CEPEC), Ilhéus, Bahia, Brazil, in a completely randomized block design, in an experimental arrangement 21 x 2 [21 complete diallel crosses and two water regimes (control and str...

An association mapping panel, named as CIMMYT Asia association mapping (CAAM) panel, involving 396 diverse tropical maize lines were phenotyped for various structural and functional traits of roots under drought and well-watered conditions. The experiment was conducted during Kharif (summer-rainy) season of 2012 and 2013 in root phenotyping facility at CIMMYT-Hyderabad, India. The CAAM panel wa...

Trees have assumed special importance after it was realized that trees could help reduce the emission of atmospheric carbon by trapping it in various pools of carbon viz. above ground biomass, below ground biomass, soil, litter and dead wood. Carbon sequestration through biomass seems to be a cheap and viable option to mitigate the increasing concentrations of greenhouse gases. The study attemp...

Seedlings of co-occurring species vary in their response to resource availability and this has implications for the conservation and management of forests. Differential shade-tolerance is thought to influence seedling performance in mixed Nothofagus betuloides-Nothofagus pumilio forests of Patagonia. However, these species also vary in their soil nutrient requirements. To determine the effects ...