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 5 Mean total root length (m) and percentage of total root length 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 length
Coriaria arborea	55.0 (13.0)^a	61.2 (18.0)^ab	31.9 (11.7)^abc	17.0 (5.5)^a	0.8 (0.8)^a
Myrsine australis	19.4 (2.6)^b	1.2 (0.7)^c	–	–	–
Pseudopanax arboreus	24.1 (5.2)^b	13.7 (6.6)^bc	2.5 (1.4)^c	–	–
Sophora tetraptera	29.3 (3.5)^b	30.1 (7.1)^bc	14.7 (4.1)^abc	4.6 (2.3)^b	0.9 (0.7)^a
Cordyline australis	64.6 (8.9)^a	31.7 (4.1)^bc	4.7 (1.5)^c	0.3 (0.3)^b	–
Hoheria populnea	79.8 (9.9)^a	37.5 (13.6)^bc	10.5 (3.2)^abc	3.2 (1.4)^b	–
Knightia excelsa	39.9 (6.7)^a	6.4 (2.7)^c	–	–	–
Pittosporum tennuifolium	67.5 (5.4)^a	37.4 (6.9)^bc	12.1 (3.9)^abc	1.7 (0.9)^b	–
Pittosporum eugenioides	66.1 (6.4)^a	81.2 (14.8)^a	35.9 (4.1)^a	13.1 (3.8)^a	1.0 (0.6)^a
Coprosma robusta	67.0 (10.0)^a	29.9 (8.3)^bc	6.5 (2.3)^bc	0.1 (0.1)^b	–
Plaganthus regius	71.1 (11.2)^a	46.8 (12.0)^b	32.9 (16.1)^ab	8.8 (3.4)^ab	–
Leptospermum scoparium	18.8 (2.0)^b	5.6 (2.3)^bc	1.1 (1.0)^abc	–	–
Percentage of total root length
Coriaria arborea	40.0 (6.2)^efg	38.6 (1.9)^a	16.4 (4.7)^a	4.8 (2.5)^ab	0.2 (0.2)^a
Myrsine australis	96.0 (1.8)^a	4.0 (1.8)^c	–	–	–
Pseudopanax arboreus	72.4 (6.2)^bc	24.4 (2.8)^b	3.1 (1.6)^b	–	–
Sophora tetraptera	43.2 (4.8)^fg	35.8 (2.8)^a	16.6 (2.3)^a	3.7 (1.3)^ab	0.6 (0.4)^a
Cordyline australis	62.4 (8.9)^cde	32.7 (4.1)^a	4.7 (1.8)^b	0.2 (0.2)^b	–
Hoheria populnea	60.9 (6.3)^cdef	28.6 (4.4)^a	8.0 (1.8)^b	2.4 (1.4)^ab	–
Knightia excelsa	88.0 (4.1)^ab	12.0 (4.1)^c	–	–	–
Pittosporum tennuifolium	56.9 (5.7)^cdef	28.6 (2.8)^a	10.1 (2.4)^b	1.5 (0.6)^b	–
Pittosporum eugenioides	35.0 (3.5)^g	38.4 (3.5)^a	18.8 (2.1)^a	7.3 (2.52)^a	0.5 (0.3)^a
Coprosma robusta	68.5 (5.9)^cd	24.7 (4.2)^b	6.6 (2.9)^b	0.1 (0.1)^b	–
Plagianthus regius	50.7 (4.0)^defg	28.6 (1.9)^a	15.8 (2.8)^a	4.9 (1.4)^ab	–
Leptospermum scoparium	77.9 (7.6)^abc	19.5 (6.3)^b	2.6 (2.3)^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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