Göran Rune. (2003). Slits in container wall improve root structure and stem straightness of outplanted Scots pine seedlings. Silva Fennica vol. 37 no. 3 article id 493. https://doi.org/10.14214/sf.493

Keywords: Pinus sylvestris; solidwall container; slitwall container; root morphology; mechanical instability; stem straightness

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Root structure and basal sweep were measured on 6-year-old Scots pine (Pinus sylvestris L.) trees at two sites with different soil fertility. Each site was planted with seedlings of identical origin after nursery cultivation in either solidwall container types with vertical ribs or in slitwall container types. Neither container design nor container volume affected tree height or stem diameter on the two sites. The transversal area of lateral roots was larger than the transversal area of bottom roots for the two container types at both sites. The proportion of bottom root transversal area to the total root transversal area was larger in the seedlings growing on the low fertility site than in those growing in the high fertility site for both container types. Seedlings cultivated in slitwall containers had a larger root area in proportion to stem diameter and had less root spiralling compared to the trees cultivated in solidwall containers. At the high fertility site, trees from the slitwall container type had straighter stem bases than seedlings grown in solidwall containers. At the low fertility site, differences in basal sweep formation were small between the container types. Reasons for this are discussed.

Rune, Dalarna University, Department of Forestry and Wood Technology, SE-776 98 Garpenberg, Sweden E-mail: gru@du.se

article id 498, category Research article

Slobodan B. Mickovski, A. Roland Ennos. (2003). Anchorage and asymmetry in the root system of Pinus peuce. Silva Fennica vol. 37 no. 2 article id 498. https://doi.org/10.14214/sf.498

Keywords: Pinus sylvestris; eccentricity; root morphology; anchorage; asymmetry; Pinus peuce; clustering

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The relationship between the anchorage mechanics and root architecture of Pinus peuce was investigated by carrying out winching tests and examining excavated root systems of 20 mature trees. The root system was dominated by 6.1±1.3 lateral roots, more than 70% of the lateral root cross sectional area (CSA) being distributed in the uppermost 10 cm of soil. Anchorage strength was related to the size of the tree and CSA. The overturning moment of trees was proportional to the diameter at breast height (DBH) to the power of 1.6. The trees exhibited significant asymmetry in anchorage rigidity, but although there was clustering of lateral roots in a preferred direction the root asymmetry was not significantly correlated with the asymmetry in anchorage rigidity, suggesting that much of the anchorage is provided by tap and sinker roots, rather than the laterals. However, the major laterals showed dorsoventral eccentricity, the more eccentric ones being those that were distributed closer to the soil surface and which pointed perpendicular to the direction of greatest resistance. This suggests that this is a result of thigmomorphogenetic effects. These results are compared with those for the related P. sylvestris and suggest that the assimilation and anchorage characteristics of root systems are controlled independently of each other.

Mickovski, School of Biological Sciences, University of Manchester, 3.614 Stopford Building, Manchester M13 9PT, UK E-mail: sbm@nn.uk
Ennos, School of Biological Sciences, University of Manchester, 3.614 Stopford Building, Manchester M13 9PT, UK E-mail: roland.ennos@man.ac.uk

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