Spatial and Seasonal Pattern of Fine Root Biomass and Turnover Rate in Different Land Use Systems in Central Himalaya, India
Himani Karki, Kiran Bargali, Surendra Singh Bargali
Abstract
Abstract Variation in fine root biomass (FRB) and turnover rate (TOR) were examined in four land use systems at two altitudes by using ingrowth core method. The aim of the study was to analyse the effect of altitude, depth and distance from tree stem on FRB and TOR. Significant variations (p < 0.05) were observed among land use systems, over seasons, depth and distances from the tree stem. The FRB varied between 47.09 and 528.59 kg ha–1. It was maximum in agri-horticulture (AH) system in bhabhar region and in homegarden (HG) system in hill region. In each land use system at both the altitudes FRB was maximum at uppermost layer (0‒20 cm) during rainy season at 50 cm distance from tree stem while, TOR did not showed any particular trend with soil depth and distance from the tree bole. FRB and turnover rate showed significance correlation with distance from tree bole at both the altitudes i.e. (r2 = 0.898 for low and r2 = 0.899 for high altitude).