Climate and soil nutrients differentially drive multidimensional fine root traits in ectomycorrhizal‐dominated alpine coniferous forests

• Published in: The Journal of ecology Vol. 108; no. 6; pp. 2544 - 2556
• Main Authors: Ding, JunXiang, Kong, Deliang, Zhang, Ziliang, Cai, Qin, Xiao, Juan, Liu, Qing, Yin, Huajun, Wardle, David
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Oxford Blackwell Publishing Ltd 01.11.2020
• Subjects: alpine forests; Annual precipitation; atmospheric precipitation; carbon; China; Climate; Climate change; climatic variables; Colonization; Coniferous forests; Conifers; Diameters; Dimensions; ECM‐dominated conifers; Economics; ectomycorrhizae; Ectomycorrhizas; Environmental changes; Environmental control; Fertility; fine root trait covariation; fine roots; first‐ and second‐order roots; Foraging; Forests; Life span; longevity; Mineral nutrients; Nitrogen; Nutrients; Phosphorus; Plant tissues; Resource conservation; Resource efficiency; root trait multidimensionality; root‐adaptive strategies; Soil; Soil fertility; Soil nutrients; Soils; Uptake; Variance; Variation; China

Fine root traits vary greatly with environmental changes, but the understanding of root trait variation and its drivers is limited over broad geographical scales, especially for ectomycorrhizal (ECM)‐dominated conifers in alpine forests. Herein, the covariation patterns of and environmental controls...