Fine roots and belowground allocation

The amount of carbon allocation belowground is a major uncertaintly in forest ecosystems, particularly in the tropics. At the initiation of the Carbono project in 1997, we assessed the standing stocks of fine roots to 4 m depth in the soil shafts dug for the SOC studies. Since 1997 we have also been assessing fine root biomass in the 0.5 ha study plots. We restrict our sampling to the top meter of the soil profile. Unfortunately, sequential coring techniques are not adequate to evaluate fine root production at La Selva. We have completed a pilot study of evaluation of glomalin production and installed minirhizotron tubes. A Carbono team has submitted a major request to NSF to monitor minirhizotrons and continue the glomalin work with the goal to estimate glomalin and fine root production and turnover.