High Frequency Minirhizotron Observations Reveal Diel Patterns of Root Growth Under Water Stress

Clicks: 8
ID: 333697
2026
Free PDF
Article Quality & Performance Metrics
Overall Quality
Not rated
Combines reader engagement with the AI quality analysis. This article has not been analysed, so there is no overall score — reader engagement is measured and shown alongside.
AI Quality Assessment
Not analyzed
Readership in this journal
Emerging

Ranked #396 of 406 articles by views in Journal of experimental botany

Most read Least read

Bar heights use a square-root scale. Only the 120 most-read articles are drawn; the journal has 406 in total.

Mint this article as an NFT
Not yet minted

Create a permanent, verifiable on-chain record of this article on the Scimatic Network. The NFT is held in your Journament account, and you can withdraw it to your own wallet at any time.

5 SUSD one-off · no wallet required
Sign in to mint
Abstract
Abstract Growth and death of vegetation control both the amount of carbon held in living biomass and much of the flow between the atmosphere and soils, the largest terrestrial carbon reservoir. However, long-term field datasets on belowground growth dynamics are rare. Knowledge is lacking on how root growth patterns relate to the environment, fluctuating carbon and water availability, and internal plant physiological control, at both seasonal and diel scales. We imaged roots in a temperate grassland using automated minirhizotrons and interpreting root length density (RLD) automatically twice a day for nine months. From winter to autumn, we always observed some root growth in individual images, but with decreasing net RLD (indicative of net turnover) becoming predominant later in the season. Roots grew day-round except during a period of about one month in spring when root growth was only in daytime. This was a period without rain, during which soil moisture depleted rapidly, but not at its driest point. We discuss potential causes for both overall and short-term growth patterns, particularly the change in drivers of growth from internal storage to new photosynthates, or limits imposed by water availability - both soil moisture and rainfall - under shifting environmental conditions.
Reference Key
openalex_W7223379480 Use this key to autocite in the manuscript while using SciMatic Manuscript Manager or Thesis Manager
Authors Richard K. F. Nair, Martin Strube, Javier Pacheco‐Labrador, Marion Schrumpf, Mirco Migliavacca
Are you one of these authors? Claim your profile
Journal Journal of experimental botany
Year 2026
DOI
10.1093/jxb/erag492
URL
https://doi.org/10.1093/jxb/erag492
Keywords Keywords not found

Citations

No citations found. To add a citation, contact the admin at info@scimatic.org

Comments

No comments yet. Be the first to comment on this article.