Contrasting depth-related fine root plastic responses to soil warming in a subtropical Chinese fir plantation

Warming-induced soil drought especially in topsoil may enlarge the spatial mismatch between nutrients and water along the soil profile, which impedes the uptake of not only water but also nutrients by trees. Therefore, coordinating the acquisition of soil water and nutrients along the soil profile is an important strategy for trees to cope with global warming.
This study examined soil depth-related changes in nutrient concentrations, biomass, and morphology of fine roots in a Chinese fir plantation after 3 years of large-scale manipulative soil warming.
Soil warming (ambient + 4°C) increased fine root nitrogen (N) concentrations but decreased fine root phosphorus (P) concentrations across soil depths. Warming did not affect total fine root biomass and its vertical distribution. At the 0–10 cm depth, warming increased specific root length (SRL), specific root area (SRA), fine root diameter (RD), and root length density (RLD) but reduced root tissue density (RTD). In the 40–60 cm layer, w..., , , # Data from: Contrasting depth-related fine root plastic responses to soil warming in a subtropical Chinese fir plantation

Dataset DOI:

* Authors: Linqiao Jia

* Email:

* Address: num. 32 in Qishan Road, Fujian Normal University, Minhou country, Fuzhou, 350007.

* Other contributors: Qi Jiang, Jie Sun, David Robinson, Zhijie Yang, Xiaodong Yao, Xiaohong Wang, Xilin Dai, Tingting Chen, Dongmei Wu, Ailian Fan, Liuming Yang, Guangshui Chen, and Yusheng Yang.

* Organization: Fujian Sanming Forest Ecosystem National Observation and Research Station, School of Geographical Sciences, Fujian Normal University.

**Methodological Information**

* Methods of data collection/generation:
A randomized complete block design was used in this soil warming experiment. And there were two treatments: soil warming (ambient +4 °C) and the control (ambient), each with five replicate 15 m × 15 m plots.
The sampling depth was divided into four layers: 0–10 cm, 10–20 cm, 20–40 cm, and ...