[Seasonal dynamics in photosynthetic characteristics and growth of Cunninghamia lanceolata saplings and their response to soil warming]. / æ‰æœ¨å¹¼æ ‘å ‰åˆç‰¹æ€§ä¸Žç”Ÿé•¿çš„å­£èŠ‚å˜åŒ–åŠå ¶å¯¹åœŸå£¤å¢žæ¸©çš„å“åº”.

In order to understand the response and adaptation mechanisms of photosynthetic characteristics and growth for Cunninghamia lanceolata saplings in the subtropical region to global warming, we conducted the root-box warming experiment (ambient, ambient+4 ℃) at the Sanming Forest Ecosystem National Observation and Research Station in Fujian Province to investigate the effects of soil warming on the photosynthetic characteristics and growth of C. lanceolata saplings in different seasons. The results showed that the net photosynthetic rate (Pn) and stomatal conductance (gs) of C. lanceolata significantly decreased in summer compared with in spring and autumn. Soil warming had no effect on the Pn and gs of C. lanceolata. However, the interaction between warming and season significantly impacted the leaf water use efficiency (WUE). The tree height and ground diameter growth of C. lanceolata significantly increased in spring compared with in summer and autumn. Warming significantly reduced ground diameter growth, and it diminished the net diameter growth by 48.1% in autumn. However, warming had no impact on the tree height growth of C. lanceolata in each season. The specific leaf area, soluble sugar, and non-structural carbohydrates contents of C. lanceolata significantly improved in summer and autumn compared with in spring. Warming had rarely influence on leaf functional traits in each season. In conclusion, the response of photosynthesis for C. lanceolata to soil warming was insignificant. The photosynthesis of C. lanceolata exhibited significant seasonal dynamics, primarily controlled by gs. C. lanceolata adapted to soil warming by adjusting WUE, and it adjusted to high temperatures and drought stress in summer by increasing soluble sugar content and specific leaf area. The effect of warming on ground diameter growth of C. lanceolata was primarily driven by soil moisture. The seasonal difference in the growth of C. lanceolata was influenced by the photosynthesis of C. lanceolata and the trade-off between the utilization and storage of photosynthetic products.

[Effect of environmental factors on mineral soil respiration: A review]. / çŽ¯å¢ƒå› å­å¯¹çŸ¿è´¨åœŸå£¤å‘¼å¸å½±å“çš„ç ”ç©¶è¿›å±•.

Mineral soil respiration, a major component of CO2 emissions from soil to atmosphere, plays a critical role in driving terrestrial ecosystem carbon cycling and is highly sensitive to environmental changes, including soil temperature, soil moisture, and substrate availability. The changes of environmental factors can affect mineral soil respiration and its temperature sensitivity thereby alters global carbon balance. We reviewed studies on the effects of environmental factors on mineral soil respiration and its temperature sensitivity. The effect of environmental factors on mineral soil respiration and its temperature sensitivity significantly differed among ecosystems. Environmental factors directly and indirectly affect mineral soil respiration and its temperature sensitivity by altering soil microbial biomass and community structure, extracellular enzyme activity, and soil porosity. Based on the results of this review, we suggested: 1) combining multiple observation techniques and methods to study the effects of environmental factors on mineral soil respiration; 2) exploring the interactive effects of multiple environmental factors on mineral soil respiration; 3) carrying out experiments on mineral soil respiration at different temporal and spatial scales; 4) improving the prediction model of mineral soil respiration and its temperature sensitivity; 5) streng-thening the role of substrate supply of recent photosynthates in the regulation of mineral soil respiration and its temperature sensitivity.

Effects of warming on fine root lifespan of forests: A review.

As an important parameter of forests growth, fine root lifespan plays an important role in plant water and nutrient absorption, and affects underground distribution of photosynthetic products and forest ecosystem carbon cycling. The impact of climate warming on fine root lifespan has become a hot issue under the context of global change. The responses of fine root lifespan to global warming will affect ecosystem carbon balance. We reviewed the research progress of the response characteristics and mechanism of fine root lifespan of trees to warming. Most stu-dies proposed that warming would affect fine root lifespan by changing rhizosphere soil environment, fine root morphology, and tree phenology. However, the growth and death of fine roots were affected by lots of factors, leading to differences in the research results on fine root lifespan due to natural environment of the study area, the way of warming, and the research objects. Therefore, it is of importance to comprehensively analyze the responses of fine root lifespan in forests under the background of climate warming to study the underground ecological process. In the future, the following research should be strengthened: 1) Combining multiple methods to warming underground and aboveground simutaneously, and explore more accurate and effective non-destructive observation methods. 2) Combining multiple observations to study the effects of warming on fine root lifespan. 3) Carrying out research on the effect of warming on fine root lifespan of different tree species, and deeply understand the response mechanism of fine root lifespan of different trees to warming. 4) A comprehensive analysis of the effects of warming on fine root lifespan from various perspectives, and an investigation into the mechanism of the combined effects of various factors on fine root lifespan. 5) The interaction between warming and other environmental factors fine root lifespan. 6) The effect of root architecture on the fine root lifespan after warming. 7) The effects of rhizosphere microorganisms (bacteria and fungi) on fine root lifespan after warming.

Soil warming decreased dissolved organic carbon quantity and quality in subtropical forests.

Soil dissolved organic carbon (DOC) is the most active part in forest soil carbon pool, the responses of which to climate warming has profound effects on forest carbon cycling. Based on a manipulative soil warming experiment in subtropical evergreen broad-leaved forests, we collected soil solutions in situ and used ultraviolet-visible, infrared and three-dimensional fluorescence spectroscopy analyses to explore the effects of soil warming (+4 ℃, 1 year) on soil DOC quantity and quality along the soil profile. The results showed that soil DOC flux remained constant along the soil profile. Soil DOC mainly included two humic-like fractions and one microbial metabolite. Warming significantly decreased soil DOC flux and the abundance of aromatic and hydrophobic components, and increased the amount of low molecular weight carbohydrates. Furthermore, soil warming increased the relative proportion of humic-like fractions in the surface soil layer (0-10 cm) and microbial metabolite in the deep soil layer (30-40 cm), indicating that warming might accelerate microbial turnover in the deep layer. Overall, soil warming not only decreased soil DOC content, but also simplified the composition of soil DOC in subtropical evergreen broad-leaved forests.

Effects of warming on quantity and structure of litter-derived dissolved organic matter in subtropical natural Castanopsis kawakamii forests.

Litter-derived dissolved organic matter (DOM) is an important source of soil DOM, and the response of which to climate warming may change forest soil carbon and nitrogen dynamics, such as soil carbon and nitrogen mineralization. In this study, we conducted a field manipulative warming experiment in natural Castanopsis kawakamii forests. Combined with litter leaching solution collected in the field and ultraviolet-visible and three-dimensional fluorescence spectroscopy analyses, we explored the effects of warming on the content and structure of litter-derived DOM in subtropical evergreen broad-leaved forests. The results showed that litter-derived dissolved organic carbon and nitrogen content exhibited monthly dynamics, with the peak (in April) and the mean monthly content being 1.02 and 0.15 g·m-2, respectively. Litter-derived DOM had higher fluorescence index and lower biological index, indicating the microbial-origin of DOM from litter. The litter DOM mainly included humic-like fractions and tryptophan-like substances. Warming did not affect the content, aromaticity, hydrophobicity, molecular weight, fluorescence index, biological index and humification index of DOM, suggesting neutral effect of warming on the quantity and structure of litter DOM. Warming also did not affect the relative contribution of main components in DOM, indicating that the temperature variation exerted no effects on microbial degradation. In summary, warming did not change the quantity and quality of litter-derived DOM in subtropical evergreen broadleaved forests, indicating warming had little effect on litter-derived DOM input to soil.

[Effects of management on the content and spectral characteristics of soil dissolved organic carbon in a subtropical forest]. / ç»è¥æ–¹å¼å¯¹äºšçƒ­å¸¦æ£®æž—åœŸå£¤å¯æº¶æ€§æœ‰æœºç¢³å«é‡å’Œå ‰è°±å­¦ç‰¹å¾çš„å½±å“.

The differences of artificial measures, such as logging residue management, between assisted natural regeneration and afforestation may change the content and structure of soil dissolved organic carbon (DOC) and affect forest carbon cycle. In this study, we investigated the effects of managements on the content and spectral characteristics of DOC in a subtropical forest, which contained the forest of assisted natural regeneration (Ⅱ), and the plantation (Ⅲ), both were converted from mature secondary forests (Ⅰ). Results showed that DOC content in the 0-10 cm soil layer was significantly decreased by 21% and 50% in Ⅱ and Ⅲ, respectively, compared with that in Ⅰ. The DOC/SOC (soil organic carbon) ratios of 0-10 cm and 10-20 cm soil layers were significantly decreased by 27% and 43% after the conversion, respectively. In the 0-10 cm soil layer, the aromatic index and humification index of DOC in Ⅱ were significantly higher than that in Ⅲ. The infrared absorption ratio of soil DOC in the range of 3700-3000 cm-1, 1650-1620 cm-1, 1160-1000 cm-1, and 690-530 cm-1 in Ⅱ was higher than that in Ⅲ, indicating that the DOC in Ⅱ had higher carboxylic acids and aromatic substances than Ⅲ. The fluorescence index of DOC in Ⅱ and Ⅲ ranged from 1.4 to 1.9, and the biological index of Ⅱ was significantly higher than that of Ⅲ, indicating that Ⅲ had higher protein components in DOC and being more bioavailable. Thus, the differences of the content and structure of DOC between Ⅱ and Ⅲ might cause higher soil carbon pool of Ⅱ than that of Ⅲ.

[Effects of forest conversion on litterfall nutrient return and nutrient use efficiency in Mid-subtropical China.] / ä¸­äºšçƒ­å¸¦æ£®æž—è½¬æ¢å¯¹å‡‹è½ç‰©å »åˆ†å½’è¿˜åŠå »åˆ†åˆ©ç”¨æ•ˆçŽ‡çš„å½±å“.

To understand the impacts of mid-subtropical forest conversion on carbon and nutrient cycling, we conducted a 4-year investigation to examine litterfall, nutrient return and nutrient use efficiency of Castanopsis carlesii natural forest, C. carlesii secondary forest and Cunninghamia lanceolata plantation which were transformed from C. carlesii natural forest. The results showed that after C. carlesii natural forest was transformed into C. carlesii secon-dary forest and C. lanceolata plantation, the annual litter production decreased by 29.0% and 45.7%, nitrogen return of litter decreased by 34.0% and 72.7%, and phosphorus return decreased by 38.1% and 56.4%, respectively. The amount of carbon returned from litterfall in C. carlesii natural forest was 25.6% and 44.3% higher than that in C. carlesii secondary forest and C. lanceolata plantation, respectively. For C. lanceolata plantation, C. carlesii secondary forest and C. carlesii natural forest, nitrogen use efficiency of litterfall was 175.4, 94.8 and 92.0 kg·kg-1, respectively, and phosphorus use efficiency of litterfall was 3031.0, 2791.6 and 2537.2 kg·kg-1, respectively. It was concluded that C. lanceolata plantation was more limited by nitrogen compared with C. carlesii natural forest and secondary forest, and the effects of phosphorus limitation had similar effects on the three forests.

[Effects of heterogeneous distribution of soil resources on the growth of Chinese fir seedlings under warming]. / 增温下土壤资源异质分布对杉木幼苗生长的影响.

A three-factor experiment with air temperature manipulation, soil temperature manipulation and nutrients distribution pattern was conducted in Forest Ecosystem and Global Change Research Station of Fujian Normal University in Chenda, Sanming, Fujian Province. We examined the effects of heterogeneous distribution of soil resources and warming on underground and aboveground growth of Chinese fir (Cunninghamia lanceolata) seedlings, and whether warming could change the recognition of fine roots to the heterogeneous distribution of soil resources, to understand the response of Chinese fir seedlings to heterogeneous distribution of soil resources under the background of global warming. The results showed that the recognition degree of Chinese fir to the nutrients distribution pattern was mainly reflected by the absorbing root (0-1 mm diameter class) rather than by the 1-2 mm diameter class fine roots. There were no significant effects of warming on the ratio of fine root biomass between nutrient-poor and nutrient-rich patches, the coefficient of nutrients-avoidance and the coefficient of nutrients-preference of fine roots of young Chinese fir except for the single air warming. Chinese fir had higher fine root biomass (0-1 mm diameter class) and lower height in the heterogeneous soil resource environment. Air warming decreased the biomass of fine roots (both 0-1 and 0-2 mm diameter classes) and increased the height of trees. Soil warming decreased the fine root biomass of 1-2 mm diameter class and increased the height of trees and the length of lateral branches. There was no significant interactive effect of air warming, soil warming and heterogeneity of soil resource on aboveground and belowground growth of Chinese fir. The results demonstrated that the absorbing roots of Chinese fir seedlings could recognize the heterogeneous distribution of soil resources,which was not altered by warming.

[Nutrient and metabolic responses of the leaves of Cunninghamia lanceolata seedlings to warming and reduced precipitation in different season]. / ä¸åŒå­£èŠ‚æ‰æœ¨å¹¼è‹—å¶ç‰‡å »åˆ†å’Œä»£è°¢ç»„åˆ†å¯¹å¢žæ¸©å’Œå‡å°‘é™æ°´çš„å“åº”.

We examined the effects of warming (+5 ℃) and reduced natural precipitation (-50%) on nutrient status and physiological indices of Cunninghamia lanceolata seedlings during winter and summer in subtropical China. The results showed that seasonal changes in temperature and precipitation caused the seasonal differences in plant nutrient contents and metabolites levels. Contents of carbon, nitrogen, phosphorus, and potassium in leaves in winter were significantly higher than those in summer. In summer, reduced precipitation and warming had no significant effects on antioxidant enzyme activities in C. lanceolata leaves. In winter, superoxide dismutase and peroxidase activities in the leaves significantly decreased with reduced precipitation by 20.7% and 17.8%. Additionally, in winter, warming treatment significantly increased non-enzymatic ascorbic acid content by 132.5%. Carbon content decreased, whereas proline accumulation and nitrogen content increased under stress induced by combined warming and reduced precipitation in winter. However, carbon content increased by 3.3% under the treatment of simultaneous warming and reduced precipitation in summer. In addition, combined warming and reduced precipitation had no significant effects on the antioxidant system irrespective of the season. In conclusion, the adaptation mechanism of C. lanceolata to warming in summer might be different from that in winter. The changes in nutrient contents in C. lanceolata leaves were more sensitive to stress induced by combined warming and reduced precipitation. Nutrient demand and supply and seasonal changes in plant responses under climate change scenarios should be considered for better managing forest plantations and improving plant productivity.

[Effects of precipitation exclusion and warming on soil soluble carbon and nitrogen in a young Cunninghamia lanceolata plantation]. / é™é›¨éš”ç¦»å’Œæ¸©åº¦å¢žåŠ å¯¹æ‰æœ¨å¹¼æž—åœŸå£¤å¯æº¶æ€§ç¢³æ°®çš„å½±å“.

Soil soluble carbon and nitrogen play important roles in soil carbon and nutrient cycles and are highly sensitive to climate change, as they can be directly used by microorganisms. We used Tension Lysimeter to collect soil solution in 50% precipitation exclusion (P) and warming (5 ℃) plus 50% precipitation exclusion (WP) treatments in a 2 year-old Cunninghamia lanceolata plantation in subtropics, to examine the effects of precipitation and temperature on soil soluble carbon and nitrogen concentrations in soil profile. Results showed that neither P treatment nor WP treatment changed seasonal dynamics of soil dissolved organic carbon (DOC) concentration, with maximum value at October among all treatments. DOC concentration was increased in both P and WP treatments in the whole soil profile, especially in 60 cm soil depth. Compared with the control, DOC concentration was increased by 30.4%-88.7% and 32.8%-137.6% in P and WP treatments, respectively, with the most obvious difference being found in October. DOC concentration was decreased with the increases of soil depth in the control, but no significant difference among different soil layers were found in P and WP treatments. NO3--N concentration was increased by 221.1%-931.0% in WP treatment. Therefore, precipitation reduction might increase losses of C and N from soil solution in subtropical forest, due to improvement of soil permeability by the increases of fine roots grown into deep soil, which might stimulate soil microorganism activities and soil organic matter decomposition. Furthermore, warming would exacerbate the risk of C and N losses.

[Effects of soil warming on specific respiration rate and non-structural carbohydrate concentration in fine roots of Chinese fir seedlings]. / åœŸå£¤å¢žæ¸©å¯¹æ‰æœ¨å¹¼è‹—ç»†æ ¹å‘¼å¸å’Œéžç»“æž„æ€§ç¢³çš„å½±å“.

A field mesocosm experiment with Chinese fir (Cunninghamia lanceolata) seedlings was conducted in Chenda State-Owned Forest Farm, Sanming, Fujian Province. The effects of soil warming (ambient +5 ℃) on specific respiration rates and nonstructural carbohydrate (NSC) concentrations in fine roots were measured by the ingrowth core method, to reveal the belowground responses and the adaptability of Chinese fir to global warming. The results showed that soil warming caused significant changes of fine root NSC in the second year. The NSC and starch concentrations in 0-1 mm fine roots, and the NSC and sugar concentrations in 1-2 mm fine roots decreased signifi-cantly in January. The NSC, sugar and starch concentrations in 0-1 mm roots and the starch concentration in 1-2 mm roots increased in July. Soil warming had no significant effect on fine root NSC in the third year. The specific root respiration rate of the 0-1 mm roots significantly increased in July of the second year but significantly decreased in July of the third year in the warmed plots. Compared with the 0-1 mm roots, soil warming had no significant effect on the specific root respiration rate of the 1-2 mm roots. In conclusion, the responses of fine root respiration to soil warming depended on the duration of warming. Fine root respiration partly acclimated to soil warming with increasing duration of soil warming, which kept fine root NSC being relatively stable.

[Effects of nitrogen deposition on diversity and composition of soil bacterial community in a subtropical Cunninghamia lanceolata plantation.] / ä¸­äºšçƒ­å¸¦åœ°åŒºæ°®æ²‰é™å¯¹æ‰æœ¨å¹¼æž—åœŸå£¤ç»†èŒç¾¤è½å¤šæ ·æ€§åŠç»„æˆçš„å½±å“.

The increasing rate of atmospheric nitrogen (N) deposition has become the focus of research attention. Soil bacterial community plays an important role in soil nutrient cycling. We stimulated N deposition at the Forest Ecosystem of Fujian Normal University and Global Change Research Station in Chenda Town, Sanming City in the Fujian Province of China. We examined the effect of N deposition on the structure and composition of soil bacterial community using 16S rDNA amplification sequencing. The results showed that short-term addition of N had no significant effect on the soil bacterial diversity and composition, but high N treatment significantly affected therelative abundance of individual bacterial species, which increased the abundance of Copiotrophic group and decreased that of the corresponding Oligotrophic group, indicating that changes in soil bacterial nutrient strategies were driven by the availability of nutrients. Enhanced understanding of the responses of soil bacterial community and nutrient distribution pattern to rapid N deposition could improve the prediction ability about the future environment.

[Effects of soil warming and nitrogen addition on the length distributions of different diameter class fine roots of Chinese fir seedlings.] / åœŸå£¤å¢žæ¸©ä¸Žæ°®æ·»åŠ å¯¹æ‰æœ¨å¹¼è‹—ç»†æ ¹å¾„çº§æ ¹é•¿åˆ†å¸ƒçš„å½±å“.

In order to determine how the diameter class length distribution (DCLD) of fine roots of Chinese fir (Cunninghamia lanceolata) would be affected by soil warming, nitrogen addition and their interaction, a factorial experiment of soil warming (ambient, +5 ℃) and nitrogen addition (ambient, +4 and +8 g N·m-2·a-1) was carried out in the Chenda State-owned Forest Farm in Sanming, Fujian Province. An expanded extreme value model fitted the DCLD of roots of all the six treatments very well (R2=0.97). The model parameters showed that soil warming reduced the total root length, but its effect on root diameter was not significant. Nitrogen addition decreased both total root length and root diameter. The interaction of soil warming and nitrogen addition had significant effects on total root length, but had no significant effects on root diameter. DCLD of fine roots under the six treatments could be fitted well by the extreme value function (R2>0.98). The correlation analysis showed that specific root length for roots of 0-1 mm diameter was significantly negatively correlated with the parameter c, and the actual total root length was significantly positively correlated with the parameter b. It was concluded that the root morphology of Chinese fir seedlings would respond to both soil warming, nitrogen addition and their interaction, and these responses could be reflected by the changes in parameters of the extreme value model.

[Effects of precipitation exclusion on fine-root biomass and functional traits of Cunninghamia lanceolata seedlings.] / éš”ç¦»é™æ°´å¯¹æ‰æœ¨å¹¼è‹—ç»†æ ¹ç”Ÿç‰©é‡å’ŒåŠŸèƒ½ç‰¹å¾çš„å½±å“.

A precipitation exclusion experiment was set up in Cunninghamia lanceolata seedling plots in Chenda State-Owned Forest Farm, Sanming, Fujian Province, which included 50% precipi-tation reduction and ambient precipitation (control). Using soil coring and in-growth core me-thods, changes in fine-root functional traits of C. lanceolata seedlings, including fine-root biomass, morphology, stoichiometry, specific root respiration, and nonstructural carbohydrates, were exa-mined after 1 year's precipitation exclusion. The results showed that precipitation exclusion significantly decreased biomass of 0-1 mm diameter roots but had no effect on 1-2 mm diameter roots. However, adaptive morphological changes occurred in the precipitation exclusion treatment. The specific root length (SRL) of the 0-1 and 1-2 mm diameter roots increased by 21.1% and 30.5%, respectively, and root tissue density (RTD) significantly decreased and specific root surface area (SRA) significantly increased in the 0-1 mm diameter roots. Precipitation exclusion led to increase in nitrogen concentration in fine roots, but the absorption capacity for phosphorus was impeded, resulting in increased root N:P, which implied a nutritional imbalance in fine roots. Precipitation exclusion did not significantly change fine root specific respiration rate and nonstructural carbohydrate (NSC) content. However, the soluble sugar content and the ratio of soluble sugar to starch were significantly decreased, and the starch content was increased by 33.3% in the 1-2 mm diameter roots, indicating an adaptation response of C. lanceolata seedlings to reduced precipitation by increasing the storage of nonstructural carbohydrate in fine roots.

[Fine root production in initial stage of Castanopsis carlesii under different regeneration modes in Sanming, Fujian Province, China].

Fine root biomass and production in initial stage of three different regeneration approaches, i.e., natural regeneration with anthropogenic promotion (AR) , the Castanopsis carlesii plantation ( CC) and the Cunninghamia lanceolata plantation ( CL) on the clear-cutting sites of the secondary forest of C. carlesii (CK), in Sanming, Fujian Province, were investigated by using both minrhizotrons and the soil coring methods. The results of a year observation showed that the average fine root biomass was 422.5, 253.1, 197.2 and 162.8 g · m(-2), and the fine root production was 284.0, 182.6, 136.7 and 15.4 g · m(-2) · a(-1) for AR, CC, CL and CK, respectively. The maximum value of production was found in spring for AR and CC, in autumn for CL, and in winter for CK. Fine root production of other plants was higher than that of target tree species in CC, and vice verse in CL. There was a significant positive correlation between monthly fine root production and monthly precipitation in AR and CC. Significant positive correlation was found between monthly fine root production of other plants and monthly temperature in CL. The fine root under annual production and annual average biomass of these three young forests mainly distributed in the soil layer of 20- 40 cm, and mainly in the diameter class of 0-1 mm. The study demonstrated that the biomass and production of fine root under anthropogenic promotion were greater than that of the plantation, and the method of anthropogenic promotion were more conducive to increase the returning of organic matter, improve soil fertility, and maintain a high productivity in initial stage of forest regeneration.

[Effects of tree species diversity on fine-root biomass and morphological characteristics in subtropical Castanopsis carlesii forests].

Fine roots in the Castanopsis carlesii plantation forest (MZ), the secondary forest of C. carlesii through natural regeneration with anthropogenic promotion (AR), and the secondary forest of C. carlesii through natural regeneration (NR) in Sanming City, Fujian Province, were estimated by soil core method to determine the influence of tree species diversity on biomass, vertical distribution and morphological characteristics of fine roots. The results showed that fine root biomass for the 0-80 cm soil layer in the MZ, AR and NR were (182.46 +/- 10.81), (242.73 +/- 17.85) and (353.11 +/- 16.46) g x m(-2), respectively, showing an increased tendency with increasing tree species diversity. In the three forests, fine root biomass was significantly influenced by soil depth, and fine roots at the 0-10 cm soil layer accounted for more than 35% of the total fine root biomass. However, the interaction of stand type and soil depth on fine-root distribution was not significant, indicating no influence of tree species diversity on spatial niche segregation in fine roots. Root surface area density and root length density were the highest in NR and lowest in the MZ. Specific root length was in the order of AR > MZ > NR, while specific root surface area was in the order of NR > MZ > AR. There was no significant interaction of stand type and soil depth on specific root length and specific root surface area. Fine root morphological plasticity at the stand level had no significant response to tree species diversity.