A global budget for fine root biomass, surface area, and nutrient contents

Global biogeochemical models have improved dramatically in the last decade in their representation of the biosphere. Although leaf area data are an important input to such models and are readily available globally, global root distributions for modeling water and nutrient uptake and carbon cycling h...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences - PNAS 1997-07, Vol.94 (14), p.7362-7366
Main Authors: Jackson, R.B. (University of Texas at Austin, Austin, TX.), Mooney, H.A, Schulze, E.D
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
AREA DE SUPERFICIE
Biological Sciences
BIOMASA
BIOMASS
BIOMASSE
Biomes
Boreal forests
Botany
CARBON
CARBONE
CARBONO
Coniferous forests
CONTENIDO DE NITROGENO
Deciduous forests
Ecology
Flowers & plants
FOSFORO
Grassland soils
LARGURA
LENGTH
LONGUEUR
NITROGEN CONTENT
NUTRITIVE VALUE
PHOSPHORE
PHOSPHORUS
Plant roots
PLANTAS
PLANTE
PLANTS
RACINE
RAICES
Root biomass
ROOT SYSTEMS
ROOTS
SISTEMA RADICULAR
Soil ecology
Soils
SURFACE
SURFACE AREA
Surface areas
SYSTEME RACINAIRE
TENEUR EN AZOTE
VALEUR NUTRITIVE
VALOR NUTRITIVO
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Summary:Global biogeochemical models have improved dramatically in the last decade in their representation of the biosphere. Although leaf area data are an important input to such models and are readily available globally, global root distributions for modeling water and nutrient uptake and carbon cycling have not been available. This analysis provides global distributions for fine root biomass, length, and surface area with depth in the soil, and global estimates of nutrient pools in fine roots. Calculated root surface area is almost always greater than leaf area, more than an order of magnitude so in grasslands. The average C:N:P ratio in living fine roots is 450:11:1, and global fine root carbon is more than 5% of all carbon contained in the atmosphere. Assuming conservatively that fine roots turn over once per year, they represent 33% of global annual net primary productivity.
ISSN:0027-8424
1091-6490
DOI:10.1073/pnas.94.14.7362