Fine Roots


April
June
July

All three of these photos show the same fine roots. These particular roots are from a yellow birch tree in the HBEF, and are only about 0.3 mm in diameter. You can look at a metric ruler to see how small this is - it's less than 1 mm! The roots are magnified in these pictures to make them easier to see.

The first photo was taken in April, the second in June, and the third in July. In April, you can see two short root tips growing to the right and labeled "Fine Roots." By June these root tips have grown much longer and branched several times. By July the side branches have grown even longer.

By examining pictures like this, scientists can calculate how much and how quickly roots are growing over time, and can tell when different roots die. They can then use this information to compare root growth between different times of the year as well as different types of forests.

Because carbon and other nutrients are present in fine roots, the use of these minirhizotron techniques also helps scientists understand belowground cycling processes. For example, a study of the carbon cycle is not complete without looking at how much carbon is present in live, dead, or decaying roots.


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