Dissertation Research: Nitrogen Supply and Root Dynamics: A Plant Strategy Approach

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98-01244 Chapin/Craine DDIG: Nitrogen supply and root dynamics: A plant strategy approach Plant ecologists are still not sure how plants grow, largely because little data has been collected regarding roots. Our lack of knowledge about plant growth and how plants interact with their environment compromises our ability to predict the effects of global change, including elevated atmospheric CO2 concentrations and nitrogen deposition. This research project is designed to measure characteristics that are important in the above- and belowground growth of plants, and the relationship of these traits to ecosystem processes such as the fate of nutrients in the soil. Measurements include using video technology to image roots belowground in order to quantify when roots are produced in the year and how long a root lives, and measuring the influence of the live and dead roots on the ecosystem's retention of nitrate, an inorganic form of nitrogen that is a common pollutant of groundwater.