ISHS Acta Horticulturae 275: International Symposium on the Culture of Subtropical and Tropical Fruits and Crops
TREE ROOT GROWTH: OPPORTUNITIES FOR MORE EFFECTIVE CROP PRODUCTION BY UNDERSTANDING SOIL UTILIZATION |
| Author: | D. Atkinson |
| Abstract:
Features of tree root systems, especially development and activity, are discussed and reviewed in relation to effects of specific system characteristics on functioning. These features are assessed for a range of tropical horticultural species. Their features are compared and contrasted with those of temperate tree species for which root development processes are better understood. Information on root processes, especially dynamic features such as growth, rate of root turnover and infection with symbiotic fungi, is less well established than for similar processes in leaves. This is due at least in part to the limitations of existing methods. Although root laboratories (rhizotrons, biotrons) have provided information on dynamic processes, installation of this type are expensive to build and inflexible in their use. The recent development of high resolution miniature TV cameras and boroscopes have now given the ability to assess root growth, using mini or micro rhizotron tubes, in any field or glasshouse trial. The range of information which can be obtained on tropical tree species, in relation to the use of soil resources, of chemical inputs, tree improvement programmes and the potential for the use of novel micro-organisms, using these methods is discussed. | |
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