Skip to main content
. 2015 May 27;7:plv059. doi: 10.1093/aobpla/plv059

Table 1.

Description of the 10 response measures describing aspects of plant root systems.

Behaviour Description
Aboveground biomass Dry mass (g) of all aboveground tissues (g)
Belowground biomass Dry mass (g) of all belowground tissues (g)
Total biomass Combined dry mass (g) of aboveground and belowground plant tissues (g)
Root : shoot ratio Ratio of belowground biomass to aboveground biomass for a given individual
Total root length Total length of roots (mm) traced using ArcGIS software and attributed to a given individual plant
Total root system area A convex hull is created around all of the roots of each individual plant. The area of this convex hull (mm2) is considered to be the total root system area ‘occupied’ by the plant
Maximum root system breadth The vertical soil space was divided into 10 mm intervals. For each depth interval the distance (mm) between the farthest root points left and right of centre is calculated. The largest of these widths represents maximum width of the root system
Horizontal asymmetry (root length) Proportion of total root length for a given individual plant that is found to the right of plant centre. When a neighbour is present, this measure corresponds to the proportion of total root length placed towards that neighbour
Horizontal asymmetry (root system area) Proportion of total root occupation area for a given individual plant that is found to the right of plant centre. When a neighbour is present, this measure corresponds to the proportion of total occupation area towards that neighbour
Depth of maximum root system breadth The 10 mm depth interval in which the maximum width is found. The depth measure is the lower end of the interval. For example, a depth of 10 mm would indicate the interval between 0 and 10 mm
HHS Vulnerability Disclosure