Table 5.
Mean/coefficient of variance (CV) for three fine root traits measured on the same root samples but following different fine root classification approaches.
| Species | OS | Soil condition | Diameter | Specific root length | Branching Intensity | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Dc | D3 | D1 | SRLc | BIc | BI3 | |||
| Abies balsamea | A | HO | a 0.66/0.12 | 0.62/0.11 | a 0.53/0.18 | 11.7/0.31 | 2.3/0.33 | 2.1/0.39 |
| MP | b 0.55/0.12 | 0.46/0.23 | b 0.39/0.14 | 10.7/0.17 | 2.7/0.22 | 2.7/0.23 | ||
| XP | b 0.56/0.07 | 0.55/0.15 | a 0.48/0.16 | 11.0/0.24 | 2.4/0.18 | 2.0/0.30 | ||
| All sites | 0.59/0.14 | 0.55/0.20 | 0.47/0.20 | 11.1/0.25 AB | 2.5/0.25 AB | 2.3/0.32 | ||
| J | HO | a 0.60/0.15 | 0.55/0.19 | a 0.45/0.12 | 15.0/0.41 | 2.2/0.27 | 2.2/0.34 | |
| MP | b 0.51/0.13 | 0.47/0.15 | ab 0.40/0.15 | 17.0/0.49 | 2.5/0.32 | 2.8/0.22 | ||
| XP | ab 0.54/0.16 | 0.50/0.13 | b 0.39/0.12 | 14.4/0.32 | 2.2/0.38 | 2.2/0.28 | ||
| All sites | 0.55/0.16 | 0.51/0.17 | 0.42/0.14 | 15.5/0.42 a | 2.3/0.32 ab | 2.4/0.29 | ||
| Thuja occidentalis | A | HO | 0.64/0.14 | a 0.65/0.10 | a 0.60/0.05 | 13.1/0.19 | 1.8/0.34 | 1.4/0.24 |
| XP | 0.56/0.14 | b 0.55/0.21 | b 0.51/0.13 | 14.0/0.15 | 1.9/0.34 | 1.3/0.24 | ||
| All sites | 0.60/0.15 | 0.60/0.18 | 0.55/0.14 | 13.6/0.17 B | 1.8/0.33 A | 1.3/0.24 | ||
| J | HO | 0.59/0.13 | a 0.57/0.13 | a 0.51/0.09 | 12.9/0.25 | 1.5/0.31 | 1.6/0.37 | |
| XP | 0.50/0.16 | b 0.46/0.13 | b 0.40/0.18 | 14.7/0.21 | 1.7/0.49 | 1.4/0.42 | ||
| All sites | 0.55/0.17 | 0.52/0.16 | 0.46/0.18 | 13.8/0.24 b | 1.6/0.43 a | 1.5/0.39 | ||
| Acer rubrum | A | HO | 0.45/0.14 | 0.40/0.14 | 0.42/0.13 | 24.6/0.27 | 2.9/0.11 | 3.6/0.21 |
| MP | 0.39/0.13 | 0.36/0.17 | 0.36/0.19 | 24.9/0.31 | 2.8/0.16 | 3.6/0.24 | ||
| XP | 0.40/0.14 | 0.39/0.17 | 0.36/0.14 | 26.6/0.23 | 2.6/0.17 | 3.1/0.28 | ||
| All sites | 0.41/0.15 | 0.39/0.16 | 0.38/0.17 | 25.4/0.26 AB | 2.8/0.15 b | 3.4/0.25 | ||
| J | HO | 0.41/0.14 | 0.32/0.18 | 0.36/0.11 | 28.2/0.18 | 3.0/0.22 | 3.0/0.23 | |
| MP | 0.36/0.15 | 0.33/0.14 | 0.31/0.15 | 33.4/0.36 | 3.3/0.16 | 3.5/0.21 | ||
| XP | 0.36/0.12 | 0.35/0.13 | 0.34/0.14 | 33.1/0.22 | 2.4/0.12 | 2.7/0.25 | ||
| All sites | 0.38/0.15 | 0.33/0.15 | 0.34/0.14 | 31.3/0.28 b | 3.0/0.21 BC | 3.1/0.24 | ||
| Betula papyrifera | A | HO | 0.37/0.20 | 0.29/0.32 | 0.30/0.16 b | 24.9/0.43 | 3.1/0.13 | 3.7/0.29 |
| MP | 0.40/0.06 | 0.26/0.35 | 0.22/0.26 a | 17.3/0.40 | 3.5/0.09 | 3.8/0.20 | ||
| XP | 0.34/0.14 | 0.26/0.21 | 0.23/0.17 b | 28.0/0.17 | 3.1/0.22 | 4.1/0.23 | ||
| All sites | 0.36/0.16 | 0.27/0.29 | 0.25/0.24 | 23.2/0.38 A | 3.2/0.17 B | 3.9/0.24 | ||
Subscript “c” indicates a trait measured on roots <2 mm, subscript “3” indicates a trait measured on first to third order roots and subscript “1” indicates a trait measured on first order roots (diameter only). Data shown separately according to ontogenetic stage (OS): A, Adults; J, Juveniles and soil conditions; HO, Humid organic; MP, Mesic podzol and XP, Xeric podzol soil conditions. Different letters to the left of a column indicate significant differences in mean; different letters to the right of a column indicate significant differences in CV between soil conditions. Letters for all sites indicate significant differences between species (upper case for adults, lower case for juveniles).