A mini-rhizotron for studies of plant behaviour and root dynamics

用于研究植物行为和根动态的微型根管

• 批准号: 389969-2010
• 负责人: Cahill, James
• 金额: $ 2.54万
• 依托单位: University of Alberta
• 依托单位国家: 加拿大
• 项目类别: Research Tools and Instruments - Category 1 (<$150,000)
• 财政年份: 2009
• 资助国家: 加拿大
• 起止时间: 2009-01-01 至 2010-12-31
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://www.nserc-crsng.gc.ca/ase-oro/Details-Detailles_eng.asp?id=443076
• 关键词: mini; rhizotron; studies; plant; behaviour

Plant roots grow generally invisible to observation. Their hidden nature, however, does not equate to a lack of ecological importance. In many systems, such as grasslands, the majority of the living biomass is plant roots, rather than shoots. Changes in root growth dynamics will have important implications for carbon and nitrogen cycling. Even more broadly, the processes by which plant seek out and acquire resources are surprisingly poorly understood, in large part due to the difficulty of experimental observation. As a result, it is unclear how plants will interact with the roots of neighbours, and whether plants segregrate soils or maintain high levels of root overlap. This issue has important consquences for productivity, plant competitive interactions, and the maintenance of biodiversity. To address both of these research areas, I am requesting funds for the purchase of a mini-rhizotron camera system, commonly called a 'root periscope'. The camera allows repeated, non-destructive observations of roots in the soil. These data are then used to estimate root turnover and patterns of root growth. My lab currently has one such camera, though it is now 9 years old and ending the end of its functional life. Improvements in optics have resulted in greatly improved image quality, leading to enhanced precision of data. Failure to acquire a new camera prior to the final failure of the existing camera will have dramatically negative impacts on two major areas of my research program.

植物根的生长通常是观察不到的。 然而，它们的隐藏性质并不等于缺乏生态重要性。 在许多系统中，例如草原，大部分生物量是植物根，而不是芽。 根系生长动态的变化将对碳和氮循环产生重要影响。 更广泛地说，人们对植物寻找和获取资源的过程知之甚少，这在很大程度上是由于实验观察的困难。 因此，目前尚不清楚植物如何与邻近植物的根相互作用，以及植物是否隔离土壤或保持高水平的根重叠。 这个问题对生产力、植物竞争相互作用和生物多样性的维护具有重要影响。 为了解决这两个研究领域，我正在申请资金购买迷你根管相机系统，通常称为“根潜望镜”。 相机可以对土壤中的根进行重复、非破坏性的观察。 然后使用这些数据来估计根周转率和根生长模式。 我的实验室目前有一台这样的相机，尽管它已经使用了 9 年，即将结束其功能寿命。 光学器件的改进极大地提高了图像质量，从而提高了数据的精度。 在现有相机最终失效之前未能获得新相机将对我的研究计划的两个主要领域产生巨大的负面影响。