Open AccessEffects of field experimental warming on wheat root distribution under conventional tillage and no‐tillage systems
Author(s) -
Hou Ruixing,
Ouyang Zhu,
Han Daorui,
Wilson Glenn V.
Publication year - 2018
Publication title -
ecology and evolution
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.17
H-Index - 63
ISSN - 2045-7758
DOI - 10.1002/ece3.3864
Subject(s) - tillage , environmental science , biomass (ecology) , agronomy , conventional tillage , no till farming , global warming , soil horizon , soil water , soil science , climate change , soil fertility , biology , ecology
Despite the obvious importance of roots to agro‐ecosystem functioning, few studies have attempted to examine the effects of warming on root biomass and distribution, especially under different tillage systems. In this study, we performed a field warming experiment using infrared heaters on winter wheat, in long‐term conventional tillage and no‐tillage plots, to determine the responses of root biomass and distribution to warming. Soil monoliths were collected from three soil depths (0–10, 10–20, and 20–30 cm). Results showed that root biomass was noticeably increased under both till and no‐till tillage systems (12.1% and 12.9% in 2011, and 9.9% and 14.5% in 2013, in the two tillage systems, respectively) in the 0–30 cm depth, associated with a similar increase in shoot biomass. However, warming‐induced root biomass increases occurred in the deeper soil layers (i.e., 10–20 and 20–30 cm) in till, while the increase in no‐till was focused in the surface layer (0–10 cm). Differences in the warming‐induced increases in root biomass between till and no‐till were positively correlated with the differences in soil total nitrogen ( R 2 = .863, p < .001) and soil bulk density ( R 2 = .853, p < .001). Knowledge of the distribution of wheat root in response to warming should help manage nutrient application and cycling of soil C‐N pools under anticipated climate change conditions.