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@PHDTHESIS{Fllner:46950,
author = {Füllner, Kerstin},
title = {{T}he influence of spatially heterogeneous soil
temperatures on plant structure and function},
volume = {76},
school = {Universität Düsseldorf},
type = {Dr. (Univ.)},
address = {Jülich},
publisher = {Forschungszentrum Jülich GmbH Zentralbibliothek, Verlag},
reportid = {PreJuSER-46950},
isbn = {978-3-89336-507-4},
series = {Schriften des Forschungszentrums Jülich. Reihe Umwelt /
Environment},
pages = {124 S.},
year = {2007},
note = {Record converted from VDB: 12.11.2012; Universität
Düsseldorf, Diss., 2007},
abstract = {In nature, vertical gradients in soil temperature are
ubiquitous, but research on the influence of spatially
heterogeneous soil temperatures on plant structure and
function is scarce. Most experiments with plants even ignore
the gradient in soil temperature found under natural
conditions. For this reason, in this study it was examined
for the first time, whether a vertical gradient in soil
temperature influences plant growth and development in a
different way than uniform root temperatures usually
examined in the literature. Furthermore, it was analyzed
whether functional and/or structural traits of the plant
might be responsible for these potential effects. Data of
barley plants ($\textit{Hordeum vulgare}$ cv. Barke) grown
at a vertical root temperature gradient (RTG) of 20-10°C
from the top to the bottom of a plant pot were compared with
data obtained for barley plants grown at uniform root
temperatures (RT) of 10°C, 15°C and 20°C, respectively.
Plants grown at the RTG developed faster and produced more
biomass compared to plants grown at uniform root
temperatures. The root system was characterized by shallow
rooting with most roots present in 0-10 cm depth and a quite
high fraction of thick roots ($\geq$ 1.0 mm in diameter) in
the entire root system. In this way, the root system of
plants grown at the RTG was similar to plants grown at 15°C
RT. However in contrast to 15°C RT, plants grown at
20-10°C RTG did not reach highest fraction of total root
length in 0-5 cm but in 5-10 cm depth, although less root
dry weight was present in 5-10 cm compared to 0-5 cm depth
at both temperature treatments. This was explained by
differences in fractions of individual root diameters within
the respective depths. Additionally, experiments on N
metabolism in plants revealed higher concentrations of most
free amino acids in shoots at 20-10°C RTG and varying
protein concentrations in roots between plants grown at RTG
and 15°C uniform root temperature. Therefore, it was
demonstrated that a vertical gradient in root temperature
influences plant structure and function in a different way
than the respective uniform root temperature representing
the average temperature of this gradient. No significant
differences between 20-10°C RTG and 15°C RT occurred, when
nutrient uptake and translocation were analyzed with stable
isotopes as tracers ($^{15}$N, $^{25}$Mg). However, in
general it has to be stated that at active nutrient uptake
processes direct root temperature effects, e.g. lower N
uptake at 10°C RT compared to higher root temperatures were
overridden by the adaptation of plant structure to the
respective root temperature. This underlines the importance
of structural traits (e.g. biomass allocation to the shoot,
fractions of individual root diameters) to nutrient demand
and supply. In contrast, direct temperature effects remained
detectable at passive uptake processes (e.g. Mg). Therefore,
it was hypothesized, that plants grown at a vertical root
temperature gradient grow faster compared to plants at
uniform root temperatures due to a combination of structural
and functional components making nutrient uptake,
translocation and use more effective. Furthermore, it was
shown, that root temperature effects on plant structure
change in amplitude with plant age and development stage.
Consequently, effects found in this study represent a
snapshot of plant responses to root temperature.},
cin = {ICG-3},
ddc = {333.7},
cid = {I:(DE-Juel1)ICG-3-20090406},
pnm = {Terrestrische Umwelt},
pid = {G:(DE-Juel1)FUEK407},
typ = {PUB:(DE-HGF)11 / PUB:(DE-HGF)3},
url = {https://juser.fz-juelich.de/record/46950},
}