ArticleNature communications2018
Unravelling the age of fine roots of temperate and boreal forests.
Article in Nature communications, 2018. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 18 papers.
What it found
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The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
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Who cites it
18 citing papers in PubMed.
- Article
- Fine-root dynamics in deeper soils: a critical but overlooked component of ecosystem responses to climate warming.The New phytologist · 2025Review
- No winter halt in below-ground wood growth of four angiosperm deciduous tree species.Nature ecology & evolution · 2025Article
- Linking fine root lifespan to root chemical and morphological traits-A global analysis.Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America · 2024Article
- Prolonged water limitation shifts the soil microbiome from copiotrophic to oligotrophic lifestyles in Scots pine mesocosms.Environmental microbiology reports · 2024Article
- Biobased Nanomaterials─The Role of Interfacial Interactions for Advanced Materials.Chemical reviews · 2023Review
- Water limitation intensity shifts carbon allocation dynamics in Scots pine mesocosms.Plant and soil · 2023Article
- Growth of alpine grassland will start and stop earlier under climate warming.Nature communications · 2022Article
- Deconstruction and Reassembly of Renewable Polymers and Biocolloids into Next Generation Structured Materials.Chemical reviews · 2021Review
- Variation in fine root traits with thinning intensity in a Chinese fir plantation insights from branching order and functional groups.Scientific reports · 2021Article
- Radiocarbon signature reveals that most springtails depend on carbon from living plants.Biology letters · 2021Article
- Drought alters the carbon footprint of trees in soils-tracking the spatio-temporal fate ofGlobal change biology · 2021Article
- Root biomass and root traits of Alnus glutinosa show size-dependent and opposite patterns in a drained and a rewetted forest peatland.Annals of botany · 2021Article
- Mid and long-term ecological impacts of ski run construction on alpine ecosystems.Scientific reports · 2020Article
- Remarkable Similarity in Timing of Absorptive Fine-Root Production Across 11 Diverse Temperate Tree Species in a Common Garden.Frontiers in plant science · 2020Article
- Fine-Root Traits Reveal Contrasting Ecological Strategies in European Beech and Norway Spruce During Extreme Drought.Frontiers in plant science · 2020Article
- Plant roots increase both decomposition and stable organic matter formation in boreal forest soil.Nature communications · 2019Article
- Plasticity of Fine-Root Traits Under Long-Term Irrigation of a Water-Limited Scots Pine Forest.Frontiers in plant science · 2019Article
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
10 authors.
Funding
Abstract
Fine roots support the water and nutrient demands of plants and supply carbon to soils. Quantifying turnover times of fine roots is crucial for modeling soil organic matter dynamics and constraining carbon cycle-climate feedbacks. Here we challenge widely used isotope-based estimates suggesting the turnover of fine roots of trees to be as slow as a decade. By recording annual growth rings of roots from woody plant species, we show that mean chronological ages of fine roots vary from <1 to 12 years in temperate, boreal and sub-arctic forests. Radiocarbon dating reveals the same roots to be constructed from 10 ± 1 year (mean ± 1 SE) older carbon. This dramatic difference provides evidence for a time lag between plant carbon assimilation and production of fine roots, most likely due to internal carbon storage. The high root turnover documented here implies greater carbon inputs into soils than previously thought which has wide-ranging implications for quantifying ecosystem carbon allocation.
Identifiers
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Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.