Fine root dynamics for managed and natural ecosystems using minirhizotrons

拟议的拨款是为了购买一台独特的设备，使我的研究小组能够继续研究植物根系在管理或自然生态系统中如何在地下发挥作用。简而言之，将透明的管子插入地面，将一个100倍变焦的微型摄像机插入管子，并在田间的便携式笔记本电脑上捕获根部图像。根部图像每月或每周从试管中完全相同的位置收集，以确定哪些根已经生长，哪些根已经死亡，以便估计地下生产力。这些根部图像在实验室通过图像分析程序进行处理，该程序跟踪图像中的根部，然后计算生产率。该设备将帮助研究生研究细根在固碳中的作用，并增加我们对根在地下的功能的理解。

The proposed grant is to purchase a unique piece of equipment that will allow my research group to continue studying how plant roots function belowground in managed or natural ecosystems. Briefly, clear tubes are inserted into the ground and a miniature video camera with 100X zoom is inserted into the tubes and root images are captured on a portable laptop in the field. Root images are collected monthly or weekly from the exact same location in the tube to determine which roots have grown and which roots have died in order to estimate belowground productivity. These root images are processed in the laboratory through an image analysis program which traces the roots in the images and then computes productivity. This equipment will help graduate students investigate the role of fine roots in carbon sequestration and increase our understanding of how roots function belowground.