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ARS Home » Pacific West Area » Pendleton, Oregon » Columbia Plateau Conservation Research Center » Research » Publications at this Location » Publication #182540
Title: ROOT AND SHOOT MASS FOR SELECTED PACIFIC NORTHWEST CROPS

Author
item DOUGLAS, JR, C. - ARS-RETIRED
item Albrecht, Stephan
item RICKMAN, R. - ARS-RETIRED
item McCool, Donald

Submitted to: Agronomy Abstracts
Publication Type: Abstract Only
Publication Acceptance Date: 4/22/2004
Publication Date: 10/31/2004
Citation: Douglas, C.L., Jr., Albrecht, S.L., Rickman, R.W., and McCool, D.K. 2004. Root and shoot mass for selected Pacific Northwest crops. ASA-CSSA-SSSA 2004 Annual Meetings Abstracts (Oct. 31 - Nov. 4, 2004, Seattle, WA). American Society of Agronomy, Madison, WI. Abstract No. 3630.

Interpretive Summary:

Technical Abstract: Root and shoot mass were evaluated for soft white winter and spring wheat (Triticum aestivum), spring peas (Pisum sativum) and winter canola (Brassica napus) for at least two years at two locations in the Pacific Northwest. Winter wheat was sampled at 3-leaf, 6-leaf, anthesis, and harvest; spring wheat at 3-leaf, anthesis and harvest. Spring peas were sampled at 6 to 7 nodes, 12 to 14 nodes, and harvest; winter canola at rosette, bolting, flowering and harvest. Root samples were obtained from 0.2 m3 soil cores. Soil was washed from roots, and any shoot material was removed by hand. During the experiment, environmental factors caused extreme variability in plant shoot and root growth. The bulk of the total winter wheat root mass was in the top 40 cm of soils. This was approximately the same for spring wheat and canola but somewhat less for peas. Crops that have similar root growth patterns seem to have approximately the same root mass fractions with depth, when normalized to the 0-10 cm depth. Root mass declined from anthesis to harvest, but the rate of decline was not consistent across crops. Long-term root mass distribution with depth was a function of tillage and cropping frequency.