Fractal geometry is a potential new approach to analyze the root architecture, which may offer improved ways to quantify and summarize root system complexity as well as yield ecological and physiological insights into...Fractal geometry is a potential new approach to analyze the root architecture, which may offer improved ways to quantify and summarize root system complexity as well as yield ecological and physiological insights into the functional relevance of specific architectural patterns. Fractal analysis is a sensitive measure of root branching intensity and fractal dimension expresses the ＂space filling＂ properties of a structure. The objective of this study was to find out the fractal characteristics of root systems in a remote area of the Taklimakan desert in China. The entire root system of two naturally occurring species were excavated and exposed with shov- els in 2007. The species were Tamarix taklamakanensis and Calligonum roborovskii. A one-factorial ANOVA with species as factor showed statistically a highly significant difference in fractal dimensions, indicating differences in their pattern of root branching. There was no relationship between root diameter and two parameters of fractal root models a and q, representing general characteris- tics of root systems, for either species （a： the ratio of the sum of root cross-sectional areas after a branching to the cross-sectional area before root division; q： the distribution of the cross-sectional areas after branching）. We have found significant linear relation- ships between the diameter after branching and root length and biomass respectively, because of the self-similarity of root branching. Branching rules are the same for roots of all sizes and lengths. Root biomass for the root systems of entire trees can be estimated by measuring the diameter of each root at the base of the trunk or the diameter after branching. We have shown that the diameter of each root at the base of the trunk and the diameter after branching are effective indices that can be measured easily in order to estimate the root lengths, biomass and other parameters of root architecture.展开更多
Plant roots play important roles in acquisition of water and nutrients, storage, anchoring, transport, and symbiosis with soil microorganisms, thus quantitative researches on root developmental processes are essential...Plant roots play important roles in acquisition of water and nutrients, storage, anchoring, transport, and symbiosis with soil microorganisms, thus quantitative researches on root developmental processes are essential to understand root functions and root turnover in ecosystems,and at the same time such researches are the most difficult because roots are hidden underground. Therefore, how to investigate efficiently root functions and root dynamics is the core aspect in underground ecology. In this article, we reviewed some experimental methods used in root researches on root development and root system architecture, and summarized the advantages and shortages of these methods. Based on the analyses, we proposed three new ways to more understand root processes：（1） new experimental materials for root development;（2） a new observatory system comprised of multiple components, including many observatory windows installed in field, analysis software,and automatic data transport devices;（3） new techniques used to analyze quantitatively functional roots.展开更多
The purpose of this paper is to explore the effects of acid treatment on root morphology and architecture in seedlings of Malus hupehensis var. pingyiensis. The rootstock seedlings were cultured in 1/2 Hoagland nutrie...The purpose of this paper is to explore the effects of acid treatment on root morphology and architecture in seedlings of Malus hupehensis var. pingyiensis. The rootstock seedlings were cultured in 1/2 Hoagland nutrient solutions of different pH (pH 4, pH 4.5, pH 5 and pH 6), respectively. The parameters of root architecture were measured in the day 4, 8 and 12 with the professional WinRHIZO 2007. Compared with the control (pH 6), the treatments significantly decreased the fractal dimension, length, diameter, surface area and volume of roots in day 8 and 12, and they kept decreasing followed the increase of the acidity and treatment time. The growth of lateral roots was more susceptible to acid treatment than taproots. In addition, the acid treatment mainly inhibited the growth of rootlets, significantly decreased the proportion of rootlets that changed the composition of roots, and then simplified the space structure of roots.展开更多
The architectural parameters of Reaumuria soongorica root system in different habitats of Gansu Province, China were analyzed to examine its ecological adaptability to arid environments. Results show that： （1） Topo...The architectural parameters of Reaumuria soongorica root system in different habitats of Gansu Province, China were analyzed to examine its ecological adaptability to arid environments. Results show that： （1） Topological indices of R. Soongorica root sys- tem are small in all habitats, and root branching pattem tends to be dichotomous. Also, the indices gradually increase in the Min- qin windblown sand region and the Zhangye Gobi region in Hexi Corridor, which indicates that drought tends to produce her- ringbone-like root branching pattems. （2） Fractal dimension values ofR. Soongorica root system are small and not obvious in the Minqin windblown sand region and the Zhangye Gobi region in Hexi Corridor, with values of 1.1778 and 1.1169, respectively. Fractal dimension values are relatively large in Jiuzhoutai semi-arid hilly and gully region of the Loess Plateau, which indicates that the R. Soongorica root system has better fractal characteristics in this region than in the other regions. （3） Total branching ra- tios of the R. Soongorica root system in arid regions of Hexi Corridor are smaller than that in the Jiuzhoutai semi-arid hilly and gully region of the Loess Plateau. This shows that root branching ability in the semi-arid region is stronger, and it decreases to some degree with increased drought. （4） The root connection lengths of R. soongorica root system are long in all habitats, but there are significant length differences between the different habitats. The root connection length at the Minqin windblown sand region is the longest. It is concluded that R. soongoriea adapts to arid environments by decreasing root branching, decreasing root overlap and increasing root connection length, which makes its root branching pattern tend to be herringbone-like to reduce com- petition in root internal environment for nutrients and to enhance root absorption rate of nutrients, and ensure effective nutrition space. Thus the roots can absorb enough water and nutrients in resource-poor settings to ensure normal physiological requirements.展开更多
Background and Aims: Structure and composition of plant roots surfaces are extremely complicated. Water vapor adsorption/desorption isotherm is a powerful tool to characterize such surfaces. The aim of this paper is t...Background and Aims: Structure and composition of plant roots surfaces are extremely complicated. Water vapor adsorption/desorption isotherm is a powerful tool to characterize such surfaces. The aim of this paper is to present theoretical approach for calculating roots surface parameters as adsorption energy, distribution of surface adsorption centers, as well as roots geometric and structure parameters as surface fractal dimension, nanopore sizes and size distributions on example of experimental isotherms of roots of barley taken from the literature. This approach was up to date practically not applied to study plant roots. Methods: Simplest tools of theoretical analysis of adsorption/desorption isotherms are applied. Results: Parameters characterizing energy of water binding, surface complexity and nanopore system of the studied roots were calculated and compared to these of the soils. Some possible applications of root surface parameters to study plant-soil interactions are outlined. Conclusions: Physicochemical surface parameters may be important for characterizing root surface properties, their changes in stress conditions, as well as for study and model plant processes. Physicochemical and geometrical properties of plant roots differ from these of the soils.展开更多
Rooting characteristics of forest trees is an important trait both for silviculture and also for genetic improvement,but its progress which was made on its improvement was rather small due to the complexity and heavy ...Rooting characteristics of forest trees is an important trait both for silviculture and also for genetic improvement,but its progress which was made on its improvement was rather small due to the complexity and heavy work for rooting traits measurement.Fractal theory provided a new idea and also a method to deal with such complicated traits.The rooting characteristics based on cuttings of 46 poplar clones were investigated,poplar cuttings were cultivated in two kinds of medium,perlite and fresh water.Pictures were took for each cutting with a digit camera and then edited with Photoshop 6.0,Fractal dimensions were obtained for each picture by the software(FDC1.0).For the two rooting traits(length,dry mass)investigated,there were significant differences existed among clones.The variation ranges of fractal dimension of cuttings were 1.173～1.533 for 46 clones cultivated in perlite,and 1.513～1.814 for 34 clones cultivated in water.A significant positive correlation was found between fractal dimension and dry mass of roots,thus,fractal dimension might be a substitutive index for rooting characteristics.In general,the more the cutting roots,the bigger the fractal dimension.展开更多
Effects of Glomus mosseae and water stress on morphology and fractal characteristic of root system in Broussonetia papyrifera were studied in this paper based on scanner-based image analysis. The results showed that d...Effects of Glomus mosseae and water stress on morphology and fractal characteristic of root system in Broussonetia papyrifera were studied in this paper based on scanner-based image analysis. The results showed that drought and VAM inoculation had a large, significant effect on plant development. Biomass, total length, surface area, volume, number of root nodes, average diameter and fractal dimension of root system in B. papyrifera decreased with the reduction of soil moisture, while they were increased by VAM inoculation. Special root length in non-AM plants increased when soil moisture was reducing, but it was decreased by VAM inoculation. It was concluded that G. mosseae inoculation improved the drought resistance of B. papyrifera, especially in moderate stressed conditions. The contribution of AM symbiosis to plant to avoid the stress or to increase its tolerance might be the result of modification of root morphology and fractal character.展开更多
文摘Fractal geometry is a potential new approach to analyze the root architecture, which may offer improved ways to quantify and summarize root system complexity as well as yield ecological and physiological insights into the functional relevance of specific architectural patterns. Fractal analysis is a sensitive measure of root branching intensity and fractal dimension expresses the ＂space filling＂ properties of a structure. The objective of this study was to find out the fractal characteristics of root systems in a remote area of the Taklimakan desert in China. The entire root system of two naturally occurring species were excavated and exposed with shov- els in 2007. The species were Tamarix taklamakanensis and Calligonum roborovskii. A one-factorial ANOVA with species as factor showed statistically a highly significant difference in fractal dimensions, indicating differences in their pattern of root branching. There was no relationship between root diameter and two parameters of fractal root models a and q, representing general characteris- tics of root systems, for either species （a： the ratio of the sum of root cross-sectional areas after a branching to the cross-sectional area before root division; q： the distribution of the cross-sectional areas after branching）. We have found significant linear relation- ships between the diameter after branching and root length and biomass respectively, because of the self-similarity of root branching. Branching rules are the same for roots of all sizes and lengths. Root biomass for the root systems of entire trees can be estimated by measuring the diameter of each root at the base of the trunk or the diameter after branching. We have shown that the diameter of each root at the base of the trunk and the diameter after branching are effective indices that can be measured easily in order to estimate the root lengths, biomass and other parameters of root architecture.
基金supported by the project of public benefits in China(No.201503221)the open fund in the Institute of Root Biology,Yangtze University
文摘Plant roots play important roles in acquisition of water and nutrients, storage, anchoring, transport, and symbiosis with soil microorganisms, thus quantitative researches on root developmental processes are essential to understand root functions and root turnover in ecosystems,and at the same time such researches are the most difficult because roots are hidden underground. Therefore, how to investigate efficiently root functions and root dynamics is the core aspect in underground ecology. In this article, we reviewed some experimental methods used in root researches on root development and root system architecture, and summarized the advantages and shortages of these methods. Based on the analyses, we proposed three new ways to more understand root processes：（1） new experimental materials for root development;（2） a new observatory system comprised of multiple components, including many observatory windows installed in field, analysis software,and automatic data transport devices;（3） new techniques used to analyze quantitatively functional roots.
文摘The purpose of this paper is to explore the effects of acid treatment on root morphology and architecture in seedlings of Malus hupehensis var. pingyiensis. The rootstock seedlings were cultured in 1/2 Hoagland nutrient solutions of different pH (pH 4, pH 4.5, pH 5 and pH 6), respectively. The parameters of root architecture were measured in the day 4, 8 and 12 with the professional WinRHIZO 2007. Compared with the control (pH 6), the treatments significantly decreased the fractal dimension, length, diameter, surface area and volume of roots in day 8 and 12, and they kept decreasing followed the increase of the acidity and treatment time. The growth of lateral roots was more susceptible to acid treatment than taproots. In addition, the acid treatment mainly inhibited the growth of rootlets, significantly decreased the proportion of rootlets that changed the composition of roots, and then simplified the space structure of roots.
基金funded by the National Natural Science Foundation of China(4136110031360205)+1 种基金International Science and Technology Cooperation Program of China(2012DFR30830)the Gansu Science and Technology Support Program(1204NKCA084)
文摘The architectural parameters of Reaumuria soongorica root system in different habitats of Gansu Province, China were analyzed to examine its ecological adaptability to arid environments. Results show that： （1） Topological indices of R. Soongorica root sys- tem are small in all habitats, and root branching pattem tends to be dichotomous. Also, the indices gradually increase in the Min- qin windblown sand region and the Zhangye Gobi region in Hexi Corridor, which indicates that drought tends to produce her- ringbone-like root branching pattems. （2） Fractal dimension values ofR. Soongorica root system are small and not obvious in the Minqin windblown sand region and the Zhangye Gobi region in Hexi Corridor, with values of 1.1778 and 1.1169, respectively. Fractal dimension values are relatively large in Jiuzhoutai semi-arid hilly and gully region of the Loess Plateau, which indicates that the R. Soongorica root system has better fractal characteristics in this region than in the other regions. （3） Total branching ra- tios of the R. Soongorica root system in arid regions of Hexi Corridor are smaller than that in the Jiuzhoutai semi-arid hilly and gully region of the Loess Plateau. This shows that root branching ability in the semi-arid region is stronger, and it decreases to some degree with increased drought. （4） The root connection lengths of R. soongorica root system are long in all habitats, but there are significant length differences between the different habitats. The root connection length at the Minqin windblown sand region is the longest. It is concluded that R. soongoriea adapts to arid environments by decreasing root branching, decreasing root overlap and increasing root connection length, which makes its root branching pattern tend to be herringbone-like to reduce com- petition in root internal environment for nutrients and to enhance root absorption rate of nutrients, and ensure effective nutrition space. Thus the roots can absorb enough water and nutrients in resource-poor settings to ensure normal physiological requirements.
文摘Background and Aims: Structure and composition of plant roots surfaces are extremely complicated. Water vapor adsorption/desorption isotherm is a powerful tool to characterize such surfaces. The aim of this paper is to present theoretical approach for calculating roots surface parameters as adsorption energy, distribution of surface adsorption centers, as well as roots geometric and structure parameters as surface fractal dimension, nanopore sizes and size distributions on example of experimental isotherms of roots of barley taken from the literature. This approach was up to date practically not applied to study plant roots. Methods: Simplest tools of theoretical analysis of adsorption/desorption isotherms are applied. Results: Parameters characterizing energy of water binding, surface complexity and nanopore system of the studied roots were calculated and compared to these of the soils. Some possible applications of root surface parameters to study plant-soil interactions are outlined. Conclusions: Physicochemical surface parameters may be important for characterizing root surface properties, their changes in stress conditions, as well as for study and model plant processes. Physicochemical and geometrical properties of plant roots differ from these of the soils.
文摘Rooting characteristics of forest trees is an important trait both for silviculture and also for genetic improvement,but its progress which was made on its improvement was rather small due to the complexity and heavy work for rooting traits measurement.Fractal theory provided a new idea and also a method to deal with such complicated traits.The rooting characteristics based on cuttings of 46 poplar clones were investigated,poplar cuttings were cultivated in two kinds of medium,perlite and fresh water.Pictures were took for each cutting with a digit camera and then edited with Photoshop 6.0,Fractal dimensions were obtained for each picture by the software(FDC1.0).For the two rooting traits(length,dry mass)investigated,there were significant differences existed among clones.The variation ranges of fractal dimension of cuttings were 1.173～1.533 for 46 clones cultivated in perlite,and 1.513～1.814 for 34 clones cultivated in water.A significant positive correlation was found between fractal dimension and dry mass of roots,thus,fractal dimension might be a substitutive index for rooting characteristics.In general,the more the cutting roots,the bigger the fractal dimension.
文摘Effects of Glomus mosseae and water stress on morphology and fractal characteristic of root system in Broussonetia papyrifera were studied in this paper based on scanner-based image analysis. The results showed that drought and VAM inoculation had a large, significant effect on plant development. Biomass, total length, surface area, volume, number of root nodes, average diameter and fractal dimension of root system in B. papyrifera decreased with the reduction of soil moisture, while they were increased by VAM inoculation. Special root length in non-AM plants increased when soil moisture was reducing, but it was decreased by VAM inoculation. It was concluded that G. mosseae inoculation improved the drought resistance of B. papyrifera, especially in moderate stressed conditions. The contribution of AM symbiosis to plant to avoid the stress or to increase its tolerance might be the result of modification of root morphology and fractal character.
