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  4. Evaluating Ecohydrological Theories of Woody Root Distribution in the Kalahari
 
research article

Evaluating Ecohydrological Theories of Woody Root Distribution in the Kalahari

Bhattachan, Abinash
•
Tatlhego, Mokganedi
•
Dintwe, Kebonye
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2012
Plos One

The contribution of savannas to global carbon storage is poorly understood, in part due to lack of knowledge of the amount of belowground biomass. In these ecosystems, the coexistence of woody and herbaceous life forms is often explained on the basis of belowground interactions among roots. However, the distribution of root biomass in savannas has seldom been investigated, and the dependence of root biomass on rainfall regime remains unclear, particularly for woody plants. Here we investigate patterns of belowground woody biomass along a rainfall gradient in the Kalahari of southern Africa, a region with consistent sandy soils. We test the hypotheses that (1) the root depth increases with mean annual precipitation (root optimality and plant hydrotropism hypothesis), and (2) the root-to-shoot ratio increases with decreasing mean annual rainfall (functional equilibrium hypothesis). Both hypotheses have been previously assessed for herbaceous vegetation using global root data sets. Our data do not support these hypotheses for the case of woody plants in savannas. We find that in the Kalahari, the root profiles of woody plants do not become deeper with increasing mean annual precipitation, whereas the root-to-shoot ratios decrease along a gradient of increasing aridity.

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Type
research article
DOI
10.1371/journal.pone.0033996
Web of Science ID

WOS:000304489000051

Author(s)
Bhattachan, Abinash
Tatlhego, Mokganedi
Dintwe, Kebonye
O'Donnell, Frances
Caylor, Kelly K.
Okin, Gregory S.
Perrot, Danielle O.
Ringrose, Susan
D'Odorico, Paolo
Date Issued

2012

Published in
Plos One
Volume

7

Issue

3

Article Number

e33996

Subjects

Tree-Grass Coexistence

•

Southern Africa

•

Niche Differentiation

•

Semiarid Landscapes

•

Aridity Gradient

•

Vegetation Cover

•

Hydraulic Lift

•

Soil-Moisture

•

Global Change

•

Water

Editorial or Peer reviewed

REVIEWED

Written at

EPFL

EPFL units
IIE  
Available on Infoscience
June 22, 2012
Use this identifier to reference this record
https://infoscience.epfl.ch/handle/20.500.14299/82024
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