Hoffmann Adriana, Kummerow Jochen
Laboratorio de Botánica, Universidad Católica de Chile, Santiago, Chile.
Botany Department, San Diego State University, 92182, San Diego, CA, USA.
Oecologia. 1978 Jan;32(1):57-69. doi: 10.1007/BF00344689.
The roots of matorral shrubs were excavated from an 18 m site of a mixed matorral stand located on a 27° NE facing slope at 1000 m elevation 40 km NNW from Santiago de Chile. The climate in this area is similar to that of the Southern Californian chaparral. The main species present were Lithraea caustica, Cryptocarya alba, Colliguaya odorifera, Mutisia retusa, and Satureja gilliesii. After harvesting the above ground biomass, the soil was washed out in 20 cm layers down to a depth of 60 cm. The roots were harvested according to their position in the site, separated into species and root size classes. Soil analysis indicated a fertile and deep reaching, clayish soil. L. caustica was a deep rooting species with many thick roots growing deeper than 60 cm. This species had a massive burl of 67 kg dry weight in the excavation site. Cryptocarya was less deep rooting, and C. odorifera had a shallow root system. It is thought that the root: shoot biomass ratios of 4.9 and 1.4 for L. caustica and C. alba respectively are indicative of the forest character of this site in the past. This forest would have been destroyed by continuous charcoal manufacture. The bulk of the fine roots was found in the 20-40 cm soil layer. The average distance between fine roots was calculated as 1.9 cm. The results were compared with an earlier excavation in the Californian chaparral.
马托拉尔灌木的根系是从位于智利圣地亚哥西北偏北40公里处、海拔1000米、东北朝向27°斜坡上的一片混交马托拉尔林分的18米区域挖掘出来的。该地区的气候与南加州丛林的气候相似。主要的物种有锈叶石梓、白桂木、香胶木、刺苞菊和吉利氏风轮菜。收获地上生物量后，将土壤按20厘米的层冲洗至60厘米深。根据根系在场地中的位置进行收获，按物种和根系大小分类。土壤分析表明这是一种肥沃且深厚的黏质土壤。锈叶石梓是一种深根物种，有许多粗根深入到60厘米以下。在挖掘现场，该物种有一个重达67千克干重的巨大树瘤。白桂木的根系入土深度较浅，而香胶木的根系很浅。据认为，锈叶石梓和白桂木的根与地上生物量之比分别为4.9和1.4，这表明该场地过去具有森林特征。这片森林可能因持续的木炭生产而遭到破坏。细根主要集中在20 - 40厘米的土层中。细根之间的平均距离经计算为1.9厘米。研究结果与之前在加州丛林进行的一次挖掘进行了比较。
