ArticleNature communications2025
A continental scale analysis reveals widespread root bimodality.
Article in Nature communications, 2025. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 3 papers.
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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.
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Who cites it
3 citing papers in PubMed.
- Warming accelerates Chinese fir root turnover and alters root production distribution in response to soil temperature and moisture.The New phytologist · 2026Article
- Fine-root dynamics in deeper soils: a critical but overlooked component of ecosystem responses to climate warming.The New phytologist · 2025Review
- Fine root and soil carbon stocks are positively related in grasslands but not in forests.Communications earth & environment · 2025Article
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Authors and funding
8 authors.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
An improved understanding of root vertical distribution is crucial for assessing plant-soil-atmosphere interactions and their influence on the land carbon sink. Here, we analyze a continental-scale dataset of fine roots reaching 2 meters depth, spanning from Alaskan tundra to Puerto Rican forests. Contrary to the expectation that fine root abundance decays exponentially with depth, we found root bimodality at ~20% of 44 sites, with secondary biomass peaks often below 1 m. Root bimodality was more likely in areas with low total fine root biomass and was more frequent in shrublands than grasslands. Notably, secondary peaks coincided with high soil nitrogen content at depth. Our analyses suggest that deep soil nutrients tend to be underexploited, while root bimodality offers plants a mechanism to tap into deep soil resources. Our findings add to the growing recognition that deep soil dynamics are systematically overlooked, and calls for more research attention to this deep frontier in the face of global environmental change.
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