303 D. Neukirchen et al. European Journal of Agronomy 11 1999 301–309
three times in the 19941995 vegetation period roots, a subsample was taken and stored at −5°C
until determination of root length RL was pos- May 1994, November 1994, March 1995. The
field was subdivided into four blocks and from sible. RL was measured by a modified line intersec-
tion method Newman, 1966 modified according each block five plants were chosen at random for
root sampling. Soil was sampled from the 0–90 cm to Tennant, 1975 using a 1.5×1.5 cm grid. The
root length density RLD; cm cm−3 was then and 90–180 cm soil layers using 10 cm and 8 cm
diameter augers, respectively. The cores were posi- calculated taking the respective soil volume into
account Garay and Wilhelm, 1983. In the tioned i at the centre of the plant p1=area
effected directly by the rhizome, ii at the mid- 19941995 examination, the rest of the subsample
from each depth, position and replicate was dried, way point between the rhizomes of four plants
p3=area with smallest influ-ence from the plants weighed again, dried and ground.
Total root dry weight RDW; kg ha−1 was and iii mid-way between p1 and p3 p2=area
with average conditions Fig. 1. Cores were cut calculated, assuming that each of the three sam-
pling positions p1–p3 was representative for a into 15 cm segments. It was not possible to measure
roots in the 0–15 cm layer at position p1 due to specific area a1=1104 cm
2, a2=8592 cm2, and a3=1104 cm
2; Fig. 1. the presence of rhizome material in the cores. The
soil samples from the same position and depth of For analysis of the nutrients in the roots, a
weighed sample from the four replicates was mixed each replicate were bulked and stored at 4°C for
a maximum of 2 weeks, until roots were washed and homogenized. N, P and K contents were
determined following Kjeldahl digestion using an from
the soil
and collected
in a
sieve 0.25×0.25 mm mesh. After weighing the cleaned
automated continuous flow system Holz, 1974. N and P were determined colorimetrically, and K
was analysed with a flame photometer. The total nutrient content was defined as the product of
RDW and nutrient concentration in the roots.
2.3. Data analysis A statistical evaluation was only possible for
RLD and RDW, because nutrient concentrations in the roots were measured in pooled samples.
Differences in RLD and RDW between soil depth and sampling dates were analysed using the Tukey
HSD test at the 5
level.
3. Results
3.1. Root distribution The root distribution determined using the
trench profile method in 1992 is shown in Fig. 2. Roots were visible down to a depth of 250 cm.
The top soil 0–30 cm contained 28 of the
counted roots. About a quarter of the roots were
Fig. 1. Sampling scheme for the core method p1=centre of the
found in the 30–90 cm soil layer. Nearly half of
plant, p3=mid-way between two plants and p2=midway
the total counted roots were present in the deeper
between p1 and p3 and corresponding representative areas a1– a3 for the calculation of root dry weight.
soil layers. In general, the number of roots
304 D. Neukirchen et al. European Journal of Agronomy 11 1999 301–309
Fig. 3. Root length density RLD obtained with the auger method for the 0–180 cm soil profile in June 1992 P1, P2 and
P3 indicate the different sampling positions; see Fig. 1. Fig. 2. Spatial distribution of the roots obtained with the trench
profile method in May 1992.
positions p2 and p3. There were no differences in RLD between the three sampling positions at a
depth greater than 30 cm. In the deepest soil layer decreased continuously with increasing depth,
although a larger number of roots were observed measured 165–180 cm, RLD was higher than
0.1 cm cm−3. in the 100–130 cm soil layer.
There were no significant differences in RLD between the three sampling dates in 19941995.
3.2. Root length density Nevertheless, the total RL for the soil profile —
calculated using RLD data and the representative Using the auger method in June 1992, RLD
was found to be highest for the two top soil layers areas
a1–a3 for
each sampling
position Fig. 1 — increased from 3.6 km m−2 in May
0–15 cm and 15–30 cm; Fig. 3. With increasing distance from the centre of the plant, RLD
1994 to 4.9 km m−2 in March 1995 Fig. 4. decreased for these soil layers. Below 30 cm, the
density of roots decreased clearly for all three 3.3. Root dry weight
sampling positions, and horizontal differentiation was less pronounced tendency for higher RLD
As with RLD values, RDW tended to decrease with sampling depth for all three sampling dates
values at p3 in comparison to p2 and p1. At a soil depth of 135–165 cm, markedly higher values
in 19941995, with the exception of the 75–105 cm soil layer, in which RDW was higher than in the
for RLD were found for each of the three positions in comparison to soil layers at a depth of 45–
layers above or below Table 2. The total RDW in the soil profile down to 180 cm increased from
135 cm. Consistent with the 1992 data, largest root
10.6 in May to 13.9 t ha−1 in November and then decreased to 11.5 t ha−1 in March 1995, reaching
densities were found in the upper 30 cm of the soil profile for each sampling date in the 19941995
nearly the same level as in spring the previous year. The increase in RDW from May 1994 to
growing season Fig. 4. RLD values declined markedly with increasing soil depth. In the top
November 1994 was mainly due to increases in the 0–15, 15–30 and 30–45 cm soil layers because
soil 0–30 cm RLD values tended to be higher at the centre of the plant p1 in comparison to
changes in deeper soil layers were much smaller.
305 D. Neukirchen et al. European Journal of Agronomy 11 1999 301–309
Fig. 4. Root length density RLD obtained with the auger method for the 0–180 cm soil profile for three sampling dates in the 19941995 growing period P1, P2 and P3 indicate the different sampling positions; see Fig. 1.
However, the decrease in RDW over winter was also due to a loss of dry weight in deeper soil
layers up to 120 cm.
Table 2 Root dry weight RDW in different soil layers during the
19941995 growing period a
3.4. Content of mineral nutrients in the roots
Depth Samplings RDW
LSD b
The nutrient concentrations in the roots were
cm
similar for the three sampling dates in 19941995,
May 1994 November 1994
March 1995
and the concentrations of N 0.7–1.4 and K
RDW kg ha−1
0.6–1.2 were clearly higher than those of P
0.06–0.17 . The N, P and K concentrations in
0–15 2475
4550 4008
ns c
the roots tended to decrease with increasing soil
15–30 1947
2967 1787
ns 30–45
995 1244
1024 ns
depth data not shown.
45–60 636 ab
737b 482 a
239 60–75
558 667
454 ns
75–90 620 b
724 b 370 a
182 Table 3
Nutrient contents N, P and K in total root dry matter of 90–105
1173 1010
741 ns
105–120 573
631 590
ns Miscanthus
120–135 520
386 681
243 Samplings
Mean 135–150
421 360
585 ns
150–165 343
342 445
ns May
November March
165–180 317
281 304
ns Total
10 579 13 898
11 471 Nutrient content kg ha−1
a Figures within a line followed by different letters are signifi- N
94.0 124.6
108.9 109.2
cantly different, based on a Tukey HSD test. P
7.6 13.2
11.0 10.6
b Least significant difference p0.05. K
75.0 116.5
85.9 92.5
c Not significant.
306 D. Neukirchen et al. European Journal of Agronomy 11 1999 301–309
The contents of N, P and K, defined as the systems e.g. Bo¨hm, 1979. Both methods used in
our experiments have their advantages and disad- product of dry matter and mean nutrient concen-
tration, were also fairly similar throughout the vantages: qualitative analysis of root distribution
is easier with the trench profile, but the auger vegetation
period of
the Miscanthus
crop Table 3. The mean values for the N, P, and K
method can give a more accurate quantitative analysis and is more suited to periodic sampling
contents of the roots of all three sampling dates were 109.2 kg N ha−1, 10.6 kg P ha−1 and 92.5 kg
Perry et al., 1983. RLD values obtained in the soil depth up to
K ha−1. 135 cm with the trench profile method in 1992
were 1.3–2.6 times lower than the values deter- mined by the auger method Table 4. RLD below
4. Discussion
