Hostname: page-component-78c5997874-4rdpn Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-11T08:28:30.481Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Root proliferation in recent and weathered sandy soils from Veracruz, Mexico

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  10 July 2009

Martin Kellman
Martin Kellman
Affiliation:
Department of Geography, York University, North YorkOntario, Canada, M3J 1P3
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

Field observations and laboratory experiments on unweathered and weathered dune sand beneath a tropical deciduous forest in Veracruz, Mexico were used to test the hypothesis that temporary nutrient adsorption by more weathered soil facilitates more effective nutrient recycling through the stimulation of a superficial fine root system. An analysis of soil solution composition in the field indicated that K, P and were being more effectively retained in weathered sand topsoil than in recent sand but, in a leaching experiment, only was more effectively adsorbed by this soil. Fine roots in weathered sand were more concentrated superficially than in recent sand, and a bioassay with seedlings of Cedrela odorata showed more fine root proliferation in this medium than in recent sand. In combination, these data suggest that weathering of sand in this area promotes an increased nitrate adsorption capacity which may stimulate greater root proliferation in topsoils and lead to the entrainment of other nutrients in a more concentrated topsoil-vegetation cycle. If these results can be applied to the larger domain of tropical soils generally, they suggest that nitrate adsorption may play an important role in stimulating effective nutrient recycling by forests occupying weathered soils.

Keywords

Cedrela odorataleachingMexicoplant nutrientsrootssandy soilssoil adsorptiontropical forest
Type
Research Article
Information
Journal of Tropical Ecology , Volume 6 , Issue 3 , August 1990 , pp. 355 - 370
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 1990

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

LITERATURE CITED

Black, C. A. (ed.).1965. Methods of soil analysis. American Society of Agronomy, Madison, Wisconsin. 792 pp.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Chao, T. T., Harward, M. E. & Fang, S. C. 1964. Iron or aluminum coatings in relation to sulfate adsorption characteristics of soils. Soil Science Society of America, Proceedings 28:632–635.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Deans, J. D. 1979. Fluctuations of the soil environment and fine root growth in a young Sitka spruce plantation. Plant & Soil 52:195–208.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Drew, M. C. 1975. Comparison of the effects of a localized supply of phosphate, nitrate and potassium on the growth of the seminal root system, and the shoot, in barley. New Phytologist 75:479–490.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Epstein, E. 1972. Mineral nutrition of plants: principles and perspectives. Wiley, New York. 412 pp.Google Scholar
Greenland, D. J. & Kowal, J. M. L. 1960. Nutrient content of the moist tropical forest of Ghana. Plant&Soil 12:154–174.Google Scholar
Hackett, C. 1972. A method of applying nutrients locally to roots under controlled conditions, and some morphological effects of locally applied nitrate on the branching of wheat roots. Australian Journal of Biological Science 25:1169–1180.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Jackson, M. L. 1962. Soil chemical analysis. Constable, London. 498 pp.Google Scholar
Jenik, J. 1971. Root structure and underground biomass in equatorial forests. Pp. 323–331 in Duvig-neaud, P. (ed.). Productivity of forest ecosystems. Proceedings of the 1969 Brussels Symposium, UNESCO, Paris. 707 pp.Google Scholar
Johnson, D. W. & Cole, D. W. 1980. Anion mobility in soils: relevance to nutrient transport from forest ecosystems. Environment International 3:79–90.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Kellman, M. 1985. Nutrient retention by savanna ecosystems III. Response to artificial loading. Journal of Ecology 73:963–972.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Kellman, M., Hudson, J. & Sanmugadas, K. 1982. Temporal variability in atmospheric nutrient influx to a tropical ecosystem. Biotropica 14:1–9.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Kellman, M., Miyanishi, K. & Hiebert, P. 1985. Nutrient retention by savanna ecosystems II. Retention after fire. Journal of Ecology 73:953–962.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Kellman, M. & Sanmugadas, K. 1985. Nutrient retention by savanna ecosystems I. Retention in the absence of fire. Journal of Ecology 73:935–951.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Kinjo, T. & Pratt, P. F. 1971. Nitrate adsorption: I. In some acid soils of Mexico and South America. Soil Science Society of America, Proceedings 35:722–725.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Kinjo, T., Pratt, P. F. & Page, A. L. 1971. Nitrate adsorption: III. Desorption movement and distribution in andepts. Soil Science Society of America, Proceedings 35:728–732.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Klinge, H. 1973. Root mass estimation in lowland tropical rain forests of Central Amazonia, Brasil. I. Fine root masses of a pale yellow latosol and a giant humus podzol. Tropical Ecology 14:29–38.Google Scholar
Larsen, S. 1967. Soil phosphorus. Advances in Agronomy 19:151–210.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Lawson, G. W., Armstrong-Mensah, A. H. & Hall, J. B. 1970. A catena in tropical moist semi-deciduous forest near Kade, Ghana. Journal of Ecology 58:371–398.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Loughnan, F. C. 1969. Chemical weathering of the silicate minerals. Elsevier, New York. 154 pp.Google Scholar
Marschner, H. 1986. Mineral nutrition of higher plants. Academic Press, London. 674 pp.Google Scholar
Matson, P. A., Vitousek, P. M., Ewel, J. J., Mazzarino, M. J. & Robertson, G. P. 1987. Nitrogen transformations following tropical forest felling and burning on a volcanic soil. Ecology 68:491–502.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Mekaru, T. & Uehara, G. 1972. Anion adsorption in ferruginous tropical soils. Soil Science Society of America, Proceedings 36:296–300.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Moreno-Casasola, P. 1982. Ecolog&ía de la vegetaci&ón de dunas costeras: factores fisicos. Biotica 7:577–602.Google Scholar
Rzedowski, J. 1978. Vegetaci&ón de M&éxico. Editorial Limusa, Mexico City. 432 pp.Google Scholar
Singh, B. R. & Kanehiro, Y. 1969. Adsorption of nitrate in amorphous and kaolinitic Hawaiian soils. Soils Science Society of America, Proceedings 29:681–683.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Spp, (Secretaria De Programacion Y Presupuesto). 1980. Carta Geologica 1:1,000,000, Hoja De Mexico. Direccion General De Geograf&íA Del Territorio Nacional, Mexico City.Google Scholar
Stark, N. & Jordan, C. F. 1978. Nutrient retention by the root mat of an Amazonian rain forest. Ecology 59:434–437.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
St John, T. V. 1983. Response of tree roots to decomposing organic matter in two lowland Amazonian rain forests. Canadian Journal of Forestry Research 13:346–349.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Tennant, D. 1975. A test of a modified intersect method of estimating root length. Journal of Ecology 63:995–1001.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Uehara, G. & Gillman, G. 1981. The mineralogy, chemistry and physics of tropical soils with variable charge clays. Westview Press, Boulder, Colorado, USA. 170 pp.Google Scholar
Walker, J., Thompson, C. H., Fergus, I. F. & Tunstall, B. R. 1981. Plant succession and soil development in coastal sand dunes of subtropical eastern Australia. Pp. 107–131 in West, D. C., Shugart, H. H. & Botkin, D. B. (eds). Forest succession, concepts and applications. Springer, New York. 517 pp.Google Scholar
Wiersum, L. K. 1958. Density of root branching as affected by substrate and separate ions. Acta Botanica Neerlandica 7:174–190.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Wiklander, L. 1980. Interaction between cations and anions influencing adsorption and leaching. Pp. 239–254 in Hutchinson, T. C. & Havas, M. (eds). Effects of acid precipitation on terrestrial ecosystems. Plenum, New York. 654 pp.Google Scholar
Zar, J. H. 1984. Biostatistical analysis. (2nd edition). Prentice Hall, Englewood Cliffs, New Jersey. 718 pp.Google Scholar