Variation in fine root biomass of three European tree species: Beech (Fagus sylvatica L.), Norway spruce (Picea abies L. Karst.), and Scots pine (Pinus sylvestris L.)

Figures & data

Figure 1. The location of reviewed stands. The stands located in Finland, Estonia, Norway and Sweden were classified in the boreal zone.

Table I. Sources of data

Vegetation zone	Species	Reference
Temperate	Fagus	Al Sayegh-Petkovšek (2000), Bolte & Villanueva (2006), Claus & George (2005), Epron et al. (1999), Grebenc (1995), Grebenc & Kraigher (2007a,b), Grebenc et al. (2005), Hendriks & Bianchi (1995), Hobbie et al. (Ecosystems, 2006, submitted), Košir (1976), Kutnar et al. (2002), Kraigher et al. (2007), Leuschner & Hertel 2003, Leuschner et al. (2004), Schmid (2002), Vilhar & Kraigher (1999)
Temperate	Picea	Ammer & Wagner (2005), Bolte & Villanueva (2006), Borken et al. (2007), Brunner et al. (2002), Claus & George (2005), Genenger et al. (2003), Godbold et al. (2003), Grebenc (2005), Grebenc et al. (2007), Hobbie et al. (Ecosystems, 2006, submitted), Konôpka & Pavlenda (2004), Košir (1976), Kraigher (1997, 1999), Kraigher et al. (1996), Kutnar et al. (2002), Leuschner & Hertel (2003), Murach (1984), Schmid (2002), Vilhar & Kraigher (1999)
Temperate	Pinus	Janssens et al. (2002), Hobbie et al. (Ecosystems, 2006, submitted), Konŏpka et al. (2005), Leuschner & Hertel (2003), Oleksyn et al. (1999), Vanguelova et al. (2005), Xiao et al. (2002)
Boreal	Picea	Eldhuset et al. (2006), Finér et al. (2003), Helmisaari & Hallbäcken (1999), Helmisaari et al. (2007), Lõhmus & Oja (1983), Majdi (2001), Majdi & Persson (1995), Möttönen et al. (2003), Ohashi et al. (2007), Ostonen et al. (2005), Püttsepp et al. (2006)
Boreal	Pinus	Finér & Laine (1998), Helmisaari et al. (2002, 2007), Mälkönen (1974), Mamayev (1977, 1986), Persson (1979), Vanninen & Mäkelä (1999)

Table II. Descriptive statistics for the beech, spruce and pine stands in the temperate zone

Variable	Mean	Min	Max	SD	N
Fagus
Latitude, °N	50.5	45	53	2.1	36
Longitude,°E	10.4	5.4	18.1	2.8	36
Elevation, m	427	115	900	186	33
Mean annual precipitation, mm	882	462	1624	313	33
Mean annual temperature,°C	7.7	6.0	9.2	0.77	33
Stand density, trees, ha^−1	788	108	4768	1280	17
Basal area, m^2ha^−1	27	17	52	9.6	13
Basal area/tree, m^2	0.07	0.0	0.23	0.07	11
Mean diameter, cm	33	7	54	33	15
Height, m	24	11	34	6.5	14
Stem volume, m^3ha^−1	379	179	800	284	4
Stand age, years	111	30	250	46	36
Topsoil, mineral, pH	4.4	2.9	7.0	1.2	27
Soil organic layer, C/N	30	22	35	7.0	3
Fine root biomass, g m^−2	389	116	960	206	36
Fine root necromass, g m^−2	920	84	3500	948	22
Fine root biomass per tree, kg	13.8	0.7	38.2	10.7	17
Picea
Latitude, °N	48.6	40	52	3.2	47
Longitude,°E	12.0	7.5	19.2	3.0	47
Elevation, m	714	150	1720	398	47
Mean annual precipitation, mm	1056	591	2000	317	43
Mean annual temperature,°C	6.5	3.0	9.6	1.7	41
Stand density, trees, ha^−1	1090	272	5858	1470	22
Basal area, m^2ha^−1	41	18	62	12.4	13
Basal area/tree, m^2	0.08	0.0	0.18	0.06	13
Mean diameter, cm	26	6	53	11	16
Height, m	19	7	31	7.5	11
Stem volume, m^3ha^−1	589	280	720	178	5
Stand age, years	89	24	200	38	46
Topsoil, mineral, pH	3.8	2.8	5.5	0.7	28
Soil organic layer, C/N	31	24	34	3.9	6
Fine root biomass, g m^−2	281	63	640	134	47
Fine root necromass, g m^−2	176	55	368	91	15
Fine root biomass per tree, kg	5.0	0.4	10.7	3.4	22
Pinus
Latitude, °N	51.8	51	52	0.4	14
Longitude,°E	10.1	−0.51	18.1	5.1	14
Elevation, m	81	16	180	48	14
Mean annual precipitation, mm	692	591	767	692	13
Mean annual temperature,°C	8.6	8.2	9.8	0.5	11
Stand density, trees, ha^−1	2998	374	10016	4134	5
Basal area, m^2ha^−1	32	20	41	10.9	3
Basal area/tree, m^2	0.05	0.01	0.11	0.05	3
Mean diameter, cm	17	6	30	11	4
Height, m	16	6	22	6.8	4
Stem volume, m^3ha^−1	–	–	–	–	–
Stand age, years	85	12	131	35	14
Topsoil, mineral, pH	3.9	3.3	6.7	1.0	11
Soil organic layer, C/N	–	–	–	–	–
Fine root biomass, g m^−2	377	138	725	188	14
Fine root necromass, g m^−2	168	41	311	110	9
Fine root biomass per tree, kg	2.9	0.2	7.2	2.9	5

Table III. Descriptive statistics for the spruce and pine stands in the boreal zone

Variable	Mean	Min.	Max.	S.D.	N
Picea
Latitude, °N	62.5	56	68	3.2	24
Longitude, °E	24.2	11.1	30.0	5.7	24
Elevation, m	177	3	310	80	24
Mean annual precipitation, mm	661	460	1145	174	24
Mean annual temperature, °C	4.1	1.2	7.5	2.5	9
Stand density, trees, ha^−1	1208	374	2863	633	21
Basal area, m^2ha^−1	29	11	54	13.3	15
Basal area/tree, m^2	0.03	0.01	0.08	0.02	15
Mean diameter, cm	22	10	32	6	11
Height, m	16	8	28	6.4	17
Stem volume, m^3ha^−1	176	57	671	176	18
Stand age, years	79	24	181	47	24
Topsoil, mineral, pH	4.2	3.9	4.4	0.2	6
Soil organic layer, C/N	34	27	47	8.3	11
Fine root biomass, g m^−2	330	100	748	157	24
Fine root necromass, g m^−2	221	50	383	103	7
Fine root biomass per tree, kg	3.3	1.1	8.8	2.0	21
Pinus
Latitude, °N	61.6	58	69	2.3	29
Longitude, °E	27.1	16.4	38.0	5.7	29
Elevation, m	125	48	185	38	25
Mean annual precipitation, mm	641	419	750	89	22
Mean annual temperature, °C	2.8	1.9	3.7	0.9	7
Stand density, trees, ha^−1	1487	199	7425	1444	29
Basal area, m^2ha^−1	18	2	36	8.5	26
Basal area/tree, m^2	0.03	0.0	0.11	0.03	26
Mean diameter, cm	17	2	37	9	26
Height, m	14	2	24	6.4	26
Stem volume, m^3ha^−1	156	8	311	91	18
Stand age, years	69	15	220	49	29
Topsoil, mineral, pH	4.9	3.5	6.0	0.8	9
Soil organic layer, C/N	43	33	53	5.7	11
Fine root biomass, g m^−2	229	26	467	102	29
Fine root necromass, g m^−2	72	39	126	32	5
Fine root biomass per tree, kg	3.0	0.2	12.0	2.7	29

Table IV. The Pearson correlation coefficients between the fine root biomass (g m²) and the climatic, site and stand factors.^a

Variable	Fagus, temperate		Picea, temperate		Picea, boreal		Pinus, temperate		Pinus, Boreal
Latitude, °N	0.382*	(36)	−0.077	(47)	0.005	(24)	0.535*	(14)	0.278	(29)
Elevation, m	−0.089	(33)	0.080	(47)	0.201	(24)	−0.198	(14)	−0.070	(25)
Mean annual precipitation, mm	−0.058	(33)	0.293	(43)	0.406*	(24)	0.080	(13)	−0.323	(22)
Mean annual temperature,°C	−0.238	(33)	0.011	(41)	−0.258	(9)	0.094	(11)	−0.314	(7)
Stand density, trees, ha^−1	0.109	(17)	0.036	(22)	0.422	(21)	−0.102	(5)	0.023	(29)
Basal area, m^2ha^−1	−0.462	(13)	−0.609*	(13)	−0.721*	(15)	–	(–)	0.357	(26)
Stand age, years	−0.364*	(36)	0.216	(46)	−0.244	(24)	0.720*	(14)	0.034	(29)
Topsoil, mineral, pH	−0.377	(27)	−0.076	(28)	−0.743	(6)	−0.265	(11)	−0.017	(9)
Soil organic layer, C/N	–	(–)	0.038	(6)	0.579	(11)	–	(–)	0.563	(11)
^aStatistically significant correlations (p < 0.05) are indicated by asterisks. The number of observations is in parenthesis.

Figure 2. Mean fine root biomass in different site fertility classes for beech, spruce and pine stands. Error bars indicate standard deviations, and in each species group letters show the fertility classes which differ significantly from each other according to the Tukey's test (p < 0.05).

Figure 3. Relationship between C/N ratio of organic soil layer and fine root biomass for Scots pine stands.

Figure 4. Relationship between stand age and fine root biomass in the temperate zone for beech and Scots pine stands.

Figure 5. Relationship between stand basal area and fine root biomass for spruce in the temperate and boreal zones.

Figure 6. Relationship between stand age and fine root biomass per tree for beech and spruce in the temperate zone and for Scots pine in the temperate and the boreal zone.

Figure 7. Relationship between stand basal area per tree and fine root biomass per tree for beech and spruce in the temperate zone and for Scots pine in the boreal zone.

Table V. The Pearson correlation coefficients between biomass per tree (g) and the stand age and basal area per tree.^a

Variable	Fagus, temperate		Picea, temperate		Picea, boreal		Pinus, temperate		Pinus, Boreal
Stand age, years	0.501*	(17)	0.681*	(22)	−0.015	(21)	0.898*	(5)	0.827*	(29)
Basal area/tree, m^2	0.761*	(11)	0.781*	(13)	0.435	(15)	–	(–)	0.846*	(26)
^aStatistically significant correlations (p < 0.05) are indicated by asterisks. The number of observations is in parenthesis.

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