Abstract
To investigate the effect of reduced snow cover on fine root dynamics in a cool-temperate forest in northern Japan because of decreases in snowfall at high latitudes due to global warming, we monitored root length, production, and mortality before and after snow removal with an in-ground root scanner. We measured root dynamics of both overstory deciduous oak (Quercus crispula) and understory evergreen dwarf bamboo (Sasa nipponica), the two major species in the forest. Snow removal advanced the timing of peak root production by a month both in total and in Sasa, but not in oak. There was a significant interaction between snow removal and plant form on root production; this indicates that enhanced Sasa root production following snow removal might increase its ability to compete with oak. In contrast, snow removal did not enhance root mortality, suggesting that the roots of these species tolerate soil freezing. The earlier snow disappearance in the snow removal plot expanded the growing season in Sasa. We speculate that this change in the understory environment would advance the timing of root production by Sasa by extending the photosynthetic period in spring. We propose that different responses of root production to reduced snow cover between the two species would change the competitive interactions of overstory and understory vegetation, influencing net primary production and biogeochemistry (e.g., carbon and nitrogen cycles) in the forest ecosystem.
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Acknowledgements
We thank Takayuki Yamauchi, Yasuyuki Shibata, Tomoyuki Nakagawa, Ken-ichi Ohta, Yohichiro Kitagawa, Yasunori Kishimoto, and Makoto Fruta, the technical staff of the Hokkaido Forest Research Station, Field Science Education and Research Center, Kyoto University, for their great efforts in snow removal and maintenance of the study site; Michiko Shimizu and Masataka Nakayama (Kyoto University) for their help with image analysis; Sanae Yanagawa and students of the Graduate School of Environmental Science, Hokkaido University, for their help with the field survey; Drs. Tomoki Oda, Takuo Hishi, Yoshiyuki Inagaki, Kazuo Isobe, Megumi Kuroiwa, Toshizumi Miyamoto, Takahiro Sasai, Yuichi Suwa, Hiroto Toda, and Rieko Urakawa, members of the RESIN-III (Regional and Comparative Soil Incubation Study on Nitrogen Dynamics in Forest Ecosystems) project, for their valuable comments; and Dr. Kazuya Kobayashi (Kyoto University) for help with the statistical analysis. This study was supported in part by JSPS KAKENHI (25252026 and 17K07830).
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Hideaki Shiba and Ryunosuke Tateno conceived and designed the experiment. Karibu Fukuzawa and Shin Ugawa developed methodology. Tsunehiro Watanabe, Nanae Hosokawa, Shogo Imada, and Karibu Fukuzawa conducted fieldwork. Karibu Fukuzawa wrote the manuscript; other authors provided editorial advice.
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Root dynamics data are available at http://db.cger.nies.go.jp/JaLTER/metacat/metacat/JaLTER-Shibecha_Shiranuka.1.10/jalter.
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Communicated by Kouki Hikosaka.
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Fukuzawa, K., Tateno, R., Ugawa, S. et al. Timing of forest fine root production advances with reduced snow cover in northern Japan: implications for climate-induced change in understory and overstory competition. Oecologia 196, 263–273 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00442-021-04914-x
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00442-021-04914-x