Factors affecting the initiation and growth of aboveground adventitious roots in a tropical cloud forest tree: An experimental approach

Some of the proximate factors that would induce aboveground stems to produce adventitious roots were investigated experimentally on Senecio cooperi, a tropical cloud forest tree. Stem segments were air-layered with different treatments to promote root formation, and the number of roots initiated and the rates of root growth were monitored for 20 weeks. Treatments were the application of wet epiphytes or dry epiphytes plus associated humus, sponges wetted with either water or nutrient solutions, or dry sponges. Controls (stem segments with nothing applied) were also monitored. Numbers of adventitious roots formed and the rates of subsequent root growth differed among treatments. Wet epiphyte, humus, and nutrient solutions were most effective in producing roots, which suggests that epiphytes and the nutrients they intercept and retain within the canopy may cue adjacent host tissue to exploit this resource.
, , # Data from: Factors affecting the initiation and growth of aboveground adventitious roots in a tropical cloud forest tree: An experimental approach

Dataset DOI: [10.5061/dryad.51c59zwph](https://doi.org/10.5061/dryad.51c59zwph)

## Description of the data and file structure

File name: Nadkarni_1994_adventitious_root_number_and_length.csv

The number of adventitious roots and their summed length (cm) were recorded for stem segments (n = 60) across six treatment groups—wet epiphytes (WE), air-dried epiphytes (DE), distilled water with foam sponge (DW), dry foam sponges (DS), nutrient solution with dry sponges (NS), and control (CO). Measurements were taken two-, four-, six-, ten-, 14-, and 20-weeks-post-treatment for a total of 360 observations. Each row represents a stem segment measurement at a single time point. Destructive sampling occurred at week 20, leading to two samples having a known root length but an unknown number of roots. Empty cells represent data not determined.
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本研究以热带云雾林乔木库珀千里光（Senecio cooperi）为实验材料，通过人工操控多种近端触发因子，探究诱导地上茎产生不定根（adventitious roots）的近因机制。实验采用空中压条（air-layering）法对茎段施加不同处理以促进根系发生，连续20周监测不定根的发生数量与生长速率。处理组设置如下：施加湿附生植物（epiphytes）、干附生植物加伴生腐殖质（humus）、浸透水或营养液（nutrient solutions）的海绵，以及干海绵；同时设置未施加任何处理的空白对照组（controls）。结果表明，不同处理组的不定根生成数量与后续生长速率存在显著差异，其中湿附生植物、腐殖质与营养液处理的促根效果最佳，这提示附生植物及其截留并保存在林冠中的养分，可能会向邻近的宿主组织发出信号，诱导其利用该类资源。
# 数据来源：Factors affecting the initiation and growth of aboveground adventitious roots in a tropical cloud forest tree: An experimental approach

数据集DOI：[10.5061/dryad.51c59zwph](https://doi.org/10.5061/dryad.51c59zwph)

## 数据与文件结构说明

数据文件名：Nadkarni_1994_adventitious_root_number_and_length.csv

本数据集记录了6个处理组共60个茎段的不定根数量及其总长度（单位：cm），6个处理组分别为：湿附生植物组（WE）、干附生植物组（DE）、加蒸馏水的泡沫海绵组（DW）、干泡沫海绵组（DS）、加营养液的干海绵组（NS）以及空白对照组（CO）。分别在处理后第2、4、6、10、14、20周进行测量，总计360条观测记录。每一行对应单个时间点下的一个茎段测量数据。实验在第20周进行破坏性取样，导致2个样本仅记录了根总长度，未统计不定根数量。空单元格代表未获取的有效数据。