Table 3.

Effect of mulching treatments on root length density, root surface area density, and root dryweight density at soil layer 0–60 cm for 2022 and 2023 corn growth stages (VT and R6).

Year	Soil Layer	Treatment	VT			R6
			Root Length Density (mm cm− 3)	Root Surface Area Density (mm2 cm− 3)	Root Dry Weight Density (g dm− 3)	Root Length Density (mm cm− 3)	Root Surface Area Density (mm2 cm− 3)	Root Dry Weight Density (g dm− 3)
2022	0–20 cm	FSS	9.04a	15.77a	0.64a	3.27a	9.71a	0.78a
		UPM	7.75b	14.28b	0.47b	2.38b	7.25b	0.68b
		CK	5.18c	10.85c	0.38c	1.70c	5.69c	0.52c
	20–40 cm	FSS	2.13a	9.50a	0.08a	1.59a	1.33a	0.06a
		UPM	1.9b	5.92b	0.06b	1.33b	0.92b	0.06a
		CK	1.78b	4.11c	0.04c	1.15c	0.81b	0.03b
	40–60 cm	FSS	0.66a	4.98a	0.05a	0.61a	0.65a	0.03a
		UPM	0.51b	3.86b	0.04ab	0.43b	0.44b	0.02a
		CK	0.36c	2.78c	0.03b	0.31b	0.23c	0.02a
2023	0–20 cm	FSS	11.48a	16.56a	0.78a	8.18a	12.49a	0.63a
		UPM	11.52a	13.54b	0.52b	6.67b	10.83b	0.62a
		CK	8.74b	11.57c	0.41c	5.09c	7.74c	0.35b
	20–40 cm	FSS	2.51a	9.01a	0.63a	2.03a	3.05a	0.07a
		UPM	2.07b	6.90b	0.43b	1.66b	2.33b	0.05b
		CK	1.13c	5.86c	0.27c	1.48c	1.17c	0.03c
	40–60 cm	FSS	0.67a	4.51a	0.07a	0.71a	0.73a	0.03a
		UPM	0.52b	3.35b	0.05b	0.59b	0.59b	0.02a
		CK	0.44c	2.18c	0.05b	0.37c	0.38c	0.02a
Year			*	ns	*	**	**	*
Soil Layer			**	*	**	*	*	**
Treatment			*	ns	ns	**	*	*
Year × Soil Layer			ns	*	**	*	ns	**
Year × Treatment			**	**	ns	ns	**	ns
Soil Layer × Treatment			**	ns	**	*	**	*

VT, tasseling stage; R6, physiological maturity stage. Means with different letters in the same column are significantly different at P < 0.05. NS: not significant; * significant at the 0.05 probability level; ** significant at the 0.01 probability level.