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Reducing the Cost of Estimating Root Turnover with Horizontally Installed Minirhizotrons

Gobi-Altai, Almag, Altai, Mongolia, North East Asia
USDA-ARS and Dep. of Soil Science, Univ. of Minnesota, 439 Borlaug Hall, St. Paul, MN 55108-602

^* Corresponding author (Email: russelle{at}soils.umn.edu).

Growth and decay of individual roots (i.e., root turnover) is difficult to quantify because the processes occur simultaneously in a root system. Minirhizotrons are promising tools for assessing root turnover in natural and managed ecosystems. We investigated methodological problems and improvements in using minirhizotrons to estimate root turnover. Root images were collected in field plots of alfalfa (Medicago satira L.) and birdsfoot trefoil (Lotus carniculatus L.) through minirhizotrons installed horizontally before planting at six depths, from 7 to 70 cm, parallel to and directly below the crop rows. Forty video images (13 by 17 mm) were recorded at weekly intervals at 90° from vertical along both sides of the tubes. Images were edited into time-lapse sequences and cumulative numbers of roots that appeared and disappeared at each location were determined manually over an entire growing season. This required 29 h of labor for each replicate of each depth (a total of 80 images in one tube), with the biggest share spent on editing. Accuracy and precision of results were not decreased by using only every second image along both sides of the tube (40 images), but declined when either only one side of the tube or only 20 consecutive images on both sides were used. Reducing the recording frequency further reduced labor requirements: depending on date of root appearance and observation depth, recording intervals could be lengthened to 2 wk for the 12-cm depth and longer for greater depths without losing either accuracy or precision. Analyzing every second image and increasing the time interval between recordings resulted in projected labor savings of 70%, while maintaining data integrity.

Received for publication July 26, 1993.

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