Root system attributes of 12 juvenile indigenous early colonising shrub and tree species with potential for mitigating erosion in New Zealand

Marden, M.; Lambie, S.; Rowan, D.

doi:10.1186/s40490-018-0115-9

New Zealand Journal of Forestry Science

Table 3 Mean total root biomass (g) and percentage of total root biomass by 0.5 m radial increment from the root bole by year 5

From: Root system attributes of 12 juvenile indigenous early colonising shrub and tree species with potential for mitigating erosion in New Zealand

Tree species	0–0.5 m	0.5–1.0 m	1.0–1.5 m	1.5–2.0 m	2.0–2.5 m
Root biomass
Coriaria arborea	1227.3 (468.5)^a	484.9 (213.9)^a	172.5 (68.9)^a	34.1 (17.8)^a	1.0 (1.0)^a
Myrsine australis	127.4 (21.3)^e	1.9 (1.0)^d	–	–	–
Pseudopanax arboreus	291.2 (82.2)^bcde	54.4 (22.5)^cd	4.6 (2.6)^c	–	–
Sophora tetraptera	406.4 (112.0)^bcde	150.9 (41.8)^bcd	47.8 (16.1)^bc	13.3 (7.8)^abc	4.8 (3.2)^a
Cordyline australis	240.2 (36.4)^cde	148.4 (22.4)^bcd	14.4 (4.6)^c	1.0 (1.0)^bc	–
Hoheria populnea	702.5 (175.8)^abcd	196.4 (66.0)^bcd	36.0 (13.5)^bc	5.0 (2.0)^bc	–
Knightia excelsa	200.1 (34.4)^de	13.9 (6.5)^cd	–	–	–
Pittosporum tennuifolium	655.3 (75.8)^abcd	158.7 (34.2)^bcd	29.9 (10.9)^abc	3.7 (2.5)^bc	–
Pittosporum eugenioides	730.6 (81.3)^bc	322.0 (49.9)^bc	109.2 (18.1)^bc	32.8 (10.9)^ab	2.4 (1.4)^a
Coprosma robusta	714.3 (130.7)^abc	189.0 (52.6)^bcd	24.3 (7.8)^ab	0.3 (0.3)^bc	–
Plagianthus regius	791.1 (147.8)^b	246.8 (81.1)^bc	97.1 (40.5)^abc	20.9 (8.0)^abc	–
Leptospermum scoparium	179.4 (32.6)^bcde	12.8 (6.3)^cd	1.3 (1.3)^bc	–	–
Percentage of total root biomass
Coriaria arborea	68.3 (5.0)^c	22.6 (2.1)^bc	7.6 (2.6)^a	1.5 (0.8)^ab	0.03 (0.03)^a
Myrsine australis	99.0 (0.4)^a	1.0 (0.4)^e	–	–	–
Pseudopanax arboreus	87.4 (2.7)^b	11.9 (2.4)^cd	0.7 (0.3)^b	–	–
Sophora tetraptera	68.6 (3.6)^c	23.9 (2.4)^b	7.2 (1.4)^a	1.3 (0.5)^ab	0.4 (0.3)^a
Cordyline australis	58.0 (4.8)^cd	38.1 (4.9)^a	3.7 (1.4)^b	0.2 (0.2)^b	–
Hoheria populnea	79.4 (3.4)^b	16.7 (2.6)^bc	3.1 (0.7)^b	0.7 (0.5)^b	–
Knightia excelsa	95.4 (1.6)^a	4.6 (1.6)^de	–	–	–
Pittosporum tennuifolium	79.1 (2.9)^b	17.7 (2.0)^bc	2.9 (0.9)^b	0.3 (0.2)^b	–
Pittosporum eugenioides	64.1 (2.1)^c	26.2 (1.2)^b	9.4 (1.4)^a	2.8 (1.0)^a	0.2 (0.1)^a
Coprosma robusta	80.6 (3.3)^b	16.8 (2.8)^bc	2.5 (0.8)^b	0.1 (0.1)^b	–
Plagianthus regius	73.2 (3.3)^c	18.6 (2.1)^bc	6.8 (1.3)^a	1.4 (0.4)^ab	–
Leptospermum scoparium	94.0 (2.8)^a	5.5 (2.4)^de	0.5 (0.5)^b	–	–

In years 1–2, for each species, all the root mass was confined to within a 0–0.5-m radius of the root bole. Values in parentheses are representative of the standard error of the mean. Values with a different letter and within each radial segment were significantly different (Student-Newman-Keuls P = 0.05)

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