Hostname: page-component-78c5997874-s2hrs Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-10T15:14:18.218Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Functional association between apogeotropic aerial roots, mycorrhizas and paper-barked stems in a lowland tropical rainforest in North Queensland

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  10 July 2009

Paul Reddell ,
Michael S. Hopkins  and
Andrew W. Graham
Paul Reddell
Affiliation:
Cooperative Research Centre for Tropical Rainforest Ecology and Management, CSIRO Tropical Forest Research Centre, Maunds Road, Atherton, 4883 Queensland, Australia
Michael S. Hopkins
Affiliation:
Cooperative Research Centre for Tropical Rainforest Ecology and Management, CSIRO Tropical Forest Research Centre, Maunds Road, Atherton, 4883 Queensland, Australia
Andrew W. Graham
Affiliation:
Cooperative Research Centre for Tropical Rainforest Ecology and Management, CSIRO Tropical Forest Research Centre, Maunds Road, Atherton, 4883 Queensland, Australia
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

The root and trunk characteristics of species in a complex, lowland, evergreen, tropical rainforest at a seasonally inundated, coastal site on siliceous sands were examined. Roots in the soil were predominantly colonized by arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi although ectomycorrhizas were found on four species which contributed almost 25% of total basal area. Surface root mats were not a characteristic of the study site. In contrast, the ability to produce apogeotropic (upwardly growing) aerial roots which grew on and within the bark on trunks and branches was a consistent feature of the dominant species of trees in this forest. Eleven species representing eight families and constituting more than 85% of the basal area at the site produced these roots. Most trunks with DBH greater than 20 cm supported apogeotropic aerial roots produced by a range of species including themselves. Apogeotropic roots were most frequently found on the basal 0.5 m of trunks; however, they did occur up to 5 m above the forest floor. Apogeotropic aerial roots originated both from epicormic buds under the bark and from soil, and they were frequently colonized by arbuscular mycorrhizal and ectomycorrhizal fungi. There was a strong association between the ability to support these upwardly growing roots and the occurrence of laminated papery and flaky bark. We postulate that production of apogeotropic roots may provide a mechanism for nutrient uptake and root respiration during periods of inundation, for intercepting nutrients in stemflow and/or for extracting nutrients from bark.

Keywords

apogeotropicbarkmycorrhizanutrientsrainforestrootsseasonaltropical
Type
Research Article
Information
Journal of Tropical Ecology , Volume 12 , Issue 6 , November 1996 , pp. 763 - 777
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 1996

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

Alexander, I. J. 1989. Mycorrhizas in tropical forests. Pp. 169–188 in Proctor, J. (ed.). Mineral nutrients in tropical forest and savanna ecosystems. Blackwell Scientific Publications.Google Scholar
Australian Heritage Commission. 1986. Tropical rainforests of north Queensland: their conservation significance. Special Australian Heritage Publication Series No. 3. Australian Government Publishing Service, Canberra. 195 pp.Google Scholar
Connell, J. H. & Lowman, M. D. 1989. Low-diversity tropical rainforests: some possible mechanisms for their existence. American Naturalist 134:88–119.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Gill, A. M. 1969. The ecology of an elfin forest in Puerto Rico. 6. Aerial roots. Journal of the Arnold Arboretum 50:197–209.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Grubb, P. J. 1977. Control of forest growth and distribution on wet tropical mountains: with special reference to mineral nutrition. Annual Review of Ecology and Systematics 8:83–107.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Herwitz, S. R. 1991. Aboveground adventitious roots and stemflow chemistry of Ceratopetalum virchowii in an Australian montane tropical rain forest. Biotropica 23:210–218.Google Scholar
Janos, D. P. 1983. Tropical mycorrhizas, nutrient cycles and plant growth. Pp. 327–345 in Sutton, S. L., Whitmore, T. C. & Chadwick, A. C. (eds). Tropical rain forest: ecology and management. Blackwell Scientific Publications.Google Scholar
Janos, D. P. 1993. Vesicular-arbuscular mycorrhizae of epiphanies. Mycorrhiza 4:1–4.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Jordan, C. F. 1982. The nutrient balance of an Amazonian rain forest. Ecology 61:14–18.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Medina, E., Garcia, V. & Cuevas, E. 1990. Sclerophylly and oligotrophic environments: relationships between leaf structure, mineral nutrient content, and drought resistance in tropical rainforests of the Upper Rio Negro region. Biotropica 22:51–64.Google Scholar
Murtha, G. G. 1989. Soils of the Mossman Cape Tribulation area, north Queensland. Division of Soils, Divisional Report No. 102. CSIRO, Australia. 73 pp.Google Scholar
Nadkarni, N. 1981. Canopy roots: convergent evolution in rainforest nutrient cycles. Science 214:1023–1024.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Nix, H. A. 1991. Biogeography: pattern and process. Pp. 11–40 in Nix, H. A. & Switzer, M. A. (eds). Rainforest animals. Atlas of vertebrates endemic to Australia's wet tropics. Kowari 1, Australian National Parks and Wildlife Service, Canberra.Google Scholar
Nye, P. H. 1961. Organic matter and nutrient cycles under moist tropical forest. Plant and Soil 13:333–346.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Purnell, H. M. 1960. Studies of the family Proteaceae I. Anatomy and morphology of the roots of some Victorian species. Australian Journal of Botany 8:38–50.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Richards, P. W. 1952. The tropical rain forest. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, UK. 450pp.Google Scholar
Sanford, R. L. 1987. Apogeotropic roots in an Amazon rain forest. Science 235:1062–1064.Google Scholar
St John, T. V. & Uhl, C. 1983. Mycorrhizae in the rainforest at San Carlos de Rio Negro, Venezuela. Acta Cientifica Venezolana 34:233–237.Google Scholar
Stark, N. & Jordan, C. F. 1978. Nutrient retention by the root mat of an Amazonian rainforest. Ecology 59:434–437.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Tracey, J. G. 1982. The vegetation of the humid tropical region of north Queensland. CSIRO, Australia, Melbourne. 124 pp.Google Scholar
Uhl, C., Jordan, C. F. & Herrera, R. 1982. Amazon forest management for wood production; an assessment of limitations and potentials based on field studies at San Carlos de Rio Negro, Venezuela. Pp. 143–157 in Hallsworth, E. G. (ed.). Socio-economic effects and constraints in tropical forest management. John Wiley & Sons.Google Scholar
Webb, L. J. 1959. A physiognomic classification of Australian rainforests. Journal of Ecology 47:551–570.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Webb, L. J. 1968. Environmental relationships of the structural types of Australian rainforest vegetation. Ecology 49:296–311.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Webb, L. J. 1978. A general classification of Australian rainforests. Australian Plants 9:349–363.Google Scholar