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Belowground structure and determinants of woody plant height at a tropical dry forest site in Zambia, southern Africa

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  30 June 2022

Emmanuel N. Chidumayo Open the ORCID record for Emmanuel N. Chidumayo [Opens in a new window]
Emmanuel N. Chidumayo*
Affiliation:
Makeni Savanna Research Project, P.O. Box 50323, Lusaka, Zambia
*
Author for correspondence: Emmanuel N. Chidumayo, Emails: echidumayo@gmail.com; enc49dec@live.com
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Abstract

Root metrics and plant height for 256 excavated saplings and small trees of 27 species, including sown plants, were used to describe belowground structure and assess factors that influence shoot growth in a tropical dry forest (TDF) in Zambia. Models were developed to (i) estimate taproot depth from incomplete excavations and (ii) coarse lateral root biomass from proximal diameter data. The majority of the species studied are slow-growing and had a median height of <200 cm at the age of 16 years. Root development advanced sequentially from taproot elongation to thickening to coarse lateral root development. Shrubs in shallow soil had short taproots with a lower wood density. Plant age explained <10% of the variance in shoot height. Root variables explained the majority of the variance in shoot height. More research is needed to improve our knowledge about how belowground structures influence shoot growth and tree recruitment in TDFs of southern Africa.

Keywords

biomassroot systemsshoot heightshrubssoil depthtreesZambia
Type
Research Article
Information
Journal of Tropical Ecology , Volume 38 , Issue 6 , November 2022 , pp. 401 - 409
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Copyright
© The Author(s), 2022. Published by Cambridge University Press

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