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(a) Ground plan view of the Pinus nigra root system, redrawn from the ground-penetrating radar data. One major lateral root has not been detected by the GPR system. (b) Vertical view of the same root system drawn to the same scale. The GPR image of roots in the vertical plane (b) suggests that lateral roots were present at depths of 0 to 100 cm (0 to 39.3 in.); however, this was not the case in reality (Figure 3b).
Source publication
To evaluate the efficiency of ground-penetrating radar (GPR) to map root systems of urban trees in situ, this technique was tested on three trees in an urban environment. After carrying out the extremely rapid GPR tests around the bases of the sample trees, root systems were excavated with an air spade, which produces a supersonic jet of air used t...
Contexts in source publication
Context 1
... GPR images, drawn by hand from the data, sug- gested that the pine root system occupied practically all the area examined and that roots extended farther than the studied transects, which is in agreement with observa- tions when the root system was excavated (Figures 3a and 4a). The data illustrated that the trunk was positioned centrally within the root system, which was itself circular in shape. ...
Context 2
... a depth of 20 and 80 cm (31.5 in.), no lateral roots > 2 cm (0.8 in.) in diameter were found (Figure 3b). When the GPR images of the pine root system in the vertical plane ( Figure 4b) were compared with field observations (Figure 3b), no similari- ties in root architecture were found. ...
Context 3
... image of the pine root system reconstructed by AMAPmod ( Figure 5) was compared to that obtained by GPR (Figure 4a). Two-dimensional images of the root sys- tem in the horizontal plane only were compared ( Figures 6a, 6b, and 6c). ...
Context 4
... with regard to the large lateral roots, except for the absence of one major lateral root that had not been cap- tured on the GPR image (Figure 4a). However, many smaller roots existed on the GPR image that were not present on the image of the reconstructed root system and vice versa. ...
Similar publications
Aims
While lateral root mass is readily detectable with ground penetrating radar (GPR), the roots beneath a tree (below-stump) and overlapping lateral roots near large trees are problematic for surface-based antennas operated in reflection mode. We sought to determine if tree size (DBH) effects GPR root detection proximal to longleaf pine (Pinus pa...
Citations
... Current research endeavors to elucidate root system architecture utilizing GPR technology predominantly rely on hypothetical or empirical growth patterns, rather than on the authentic states of root development. (23) Therefore, while GPR proves effective for ascertaining the location and approximate spatial distribution of plant root systems, the progression from disparate https://doi.org/10.56294/sctconf2024945 5 Liu C, et al points to a continuous line through methodologies such as interpolation, followed by the inversion of root diameter, and subsequently the generation of a three-dimensional structural form of the root system, still lacks foundational research and model verification. According to contemporary studies, GPR is limited in detecting only the coarser plant roots (with diameters exceeding 2 cm), and many desiccated roots, due to their low moisture content, elude detection. ...
The collapse of urban street trees not only jeopardizes public safety and property but also inflicts damage upon the ecological services provided by urban environments. This paper provides a comprehensive review of Ground Penetrating Radar (GPR) technology in the application of early warning systems for the collapse of urban street trees, discussing its principles, strengths, and its historical application within urban forestry. The article further analyzes the challenges and limitations of GPR in current research endeavors and prognosticates future directions for study.
... Excavation is often resource-intensive, expensive, invasive, and destructive (Lontoc-Roy et al. 2006;Amato et al. 2008). There are noninvasive root detection methods which can avoid the need for excavation, such as Ground Penetrating Radar (GPR), but detection of roots in urban conditions using this method has proven difficult (Stokes et al. 2002;Danjon et al. 2005) and has been especially challenged by the lack of accurate, objective, and automated methods of mapping tree root systems (Guo et al. 2013;Miron and Millward 2020;Sun et al. 2023). ...
... Root growth parameter values were selected based on their ability to create generalized tree root morphological characteristics described in the literature. Illustrations provided by Coutts (1987), Stokes et al. (2002), and Danjon et al. (2005), as well as photographs of excavated tree systems in Phillips et al. (2015) and digital reconstructions of the root architecture of excavated trees in Nicoll and Armstrong research goals, this study investigates the practicality of RootBox to forecast generalized formal attributes of tree root architecture and predict the interaction of tree root architecture with various hypothetical urban growing conditions. ...
Background
Stewarding newly planted urban trees to maturity involves consideration of above- and belowground factors. While landscape architects and urban planners often focus on aboveground tree aspects, understanding root structure and function is crucial, especially in urban areas with limited underground space and diverse soil conditions. To address the importance and challenges of belowground planning for urban tree roots, we propose a protocol for site assessment and demonstrate root growth forecasting as a complement to existing urban planning approaches.
Methods
This paper describes adaptations to a plant root architecture simulator, RootBox, and its subsequent application in 4 scenarios created to assess its efficacy as a complement to the phase of urban planning that prescribes vegetation type and planting location in the context of a myriad of other site considerations. RootBox was parameterized based on observed conformity of root growth simulations to generalized tree root architecture reported in the literature.
Results
Root growth forecasts for each scenario illustrate that plausible urban tree root system architectures—specifically, commonly observed root growth habits—can be produced by RootBox. In-situ root detection (e.g., with an air spade or hydro-vac) at predetermined time intervals can provide model validation and the opportunity to backward reconfigure RootBox parameters for forecast accuracy.
Conclusion
The adapted RootBox is a flexible, proof-of-concept solution for predicting urban tree root architecture, considering the site and soil conditions pre-established in the planning process. When used with other relevant tools, RootBox can offer valuable insights during the design or rejuvenation of urban spaces.
... Roots with a diameter greater than or equal to 1.0 cm and at a depth of up to 2 m can be detected (Hruska et al., 1999). However, ground-penetrating radar cannot detect vertical roots and roots with <20 % water content (Stokes et al., 2002), and roots in close proximity cannot be distinguished (Bassuk et al., 2011). In terms of soil types, welldrained sandy soils permit high root-detection resolution, whereas soils with high soil moisture and clay content may severely reduce the resolution and observation depth (Butnor et al., 2001). ...
Root damage from urban street trees represents a substantial concern arising from the conflict between root growth and limited growth spaces. Nonetheless, the phenomenon of root damage, which threatens the safety of urban facilities, appears to have received little scholarly attention. Moreover, the effectiveness of some proposed measures for root damage prevention and control has not yet received consistent evaluation. Accordingly, this review aims to examine root damage, including its causes and available prevention and control measures. Urban trees are found to have a high potential to exert root damage on infrastructures when the following factors exist. These include large and mature tree, fast-growing trees, trees planted in limited soil volumes, shallow-rooted tree with buttress roots, trees whose diameter at breast height exceeds 10 cm, old and cracked road paving, high soil surface moisture content, short distances between trees and sidewalks (<2 to 3 m), and underground pipes that are already broken and made of metals or stones. The phenotypic traits of trees may be the primary factor causing root damage when there is a mismatch between the root-soil requirements of urban street trees and the actual soil environment. The poor effectiveness of root damage prevention and control measures may be attributed to the lack of connection between the development of control measures and the mechanism of root damage.
... Tree roots were among the first botanical targets studied, and given their large diameter, they are readily detected by GPR [11]. As such, the majority of early root studies using GPR are within the field of forestry. ...
Among many agricultural practices proposed to cut carbon emissions in the next 30 years is the deposition of carbon in soils as plant matter. Adding rooting traits as part of a sequestration strategy would result in significantly increased carbon sequestration. Integrating these traits into production agriculture requires a belowground phenotyping method compatible with high-throughput breeding (i.e., rapid, inexpensive, reliable, and non-destructive). However, methods that fulfill these criteria currently do not exist. We hypothesized that ground-penetrating radar (GPR) could fill this need as a phenotypic selection tool. In this study, we employed a prototype GPR antenna array to scan and discriminate the root and rhizome mass of the perennial sorghum hybrid PSH09TX15. B-scan level time/discrete frequency analyses using continuous wavelet transform were utilized to extract features of interest that could be correlated to the biomass of the subsurface roots and rhizome. Time frequency analysis yielded strong correlations between radar features and belowground biomass (max R −0.91 for roots and −0.78 rhizomes, respectively) These results demonstrate that continued refinement of GPR data analysis workflows should yield an applicable phenotyping tool for breeding efforts in contexts where selection is otherwise impractical.
... It may, therefore, be desirable to combine this method with a model approach to overcome these limitations. Stokes et al. (2002) found limited similarities of the root system architecture reconstruction to the actual observation obtained in the field by excavation, especially in vertical views. These similarities are to be expected where vertical roots are concerned. ...
The interest in agroforestry systems has increased considerably in recent years. The systems are more resilient to climate change and offer advantages related to soil health and biodiversity. Although the aboveground impacts of agroforestry systems are well known, the knowledge concerning root growth of trees remains limited.
This study tested the applicability of a non-destructive investigation method, the ground penetrating radar (GPR), to detect tree roots. We mapped two 80-year-old pear trees in cropland and investigated the impact of tilled and no-tilled management on the root system architecture especially in deeper soils (>0.6 m).
The root mapping method was successful, we determined the main roots of the tree up to a depth of 0.75 m. In addition, we found tillage significantly impacted root distribution. Tillage removed tree roots almost completely to a depth of 0.4 m. The bulk of the roots was present at a depth of 0.6 to 0.75 m (83% of the roots) in the tilled section, while it was found at 0.3 to 0.55 m (74%) in the no-tilled section. Detected roots indicated an overcompensation by additional roots in the tilled section that were not formed without tillage.
Overall, we found agroforestry trees were rooting deeper, below the managed cropland and therefore colonise different soil layers. Thus, the potential volume of water and nutrient intake was enlarged, which might enhance the resilience of the combined production systems. In addition, our approach presents a method for future nondestructive and continuous monitoring of tree roots and their development.
... In forest plantations, average root system extent per age-class, or smallest root system allowing survival per age-class, helps optimise spacing per hectare, reducing stand planting and thinning costs (Zenone et al. 2008). It can also help during arboriculture by providing an evaluation of tree stability during tree spade or air spade excavation, for example, or when transporting or replanting trees or shaping the root system (Rizzo and Gross 2000;Stokes et al. 2002). In all these cases, identification of the root system structure makes work easier and increases the chance of tree survival. ...
... Field geophysical measuring techniques have proved highly versatile for site evaluation and testing purposes (Stacke and Tábořík 2015;Škarpich et al. 2011) and are now commonly used in geophysical rock and soil surveys (Samouëlian et al. 2005), as well as general explorative (Blecha et al. 2018;Hartvich and Valenta 2013) and time-lapse (Lapenna and Perone 2022) measurements. The methods have also been used to assess characteristic parameters in living ecosystems, including forests (Amato et al. 2008;Butnor et al. 2001;Zenone et al. 2008), field crops (Basso et al. 2010), plantations (Mary et al. 2020), deserts, glaciers, rock and sand islands (Fan et al. 2015) and urban areas (Hruška et al. 1999; Leucci 2010;Stokes et al. 2002; see also Online Resource ESM_Table 1). ...
... Unfortunately, use of AS destroys the fragile non-suberised root zone created by the epidermal cells. The excavation process can unearth shallow root system layers within several hours; however, reaching deeper layers is hard and time consuming, often requiring tens, or even hundreds, of work hours (depending on soil texture, bedrock, species, root system structure, age and size of the tree), and can also be dangerous to the operator (Čermák et al. 2014;Rizzo and Gross 2000;Stokes et al. 2002; Table 1; see also Online Resource ESM_Table 1). ...
Aims
Our objective was to identify the most accurate and simple non-destructive method for visualising a tree’s root system, based on the assumption that tree physiological processes affect subsurface physical properties. To investigate this, we tested four geoelectrical methods, i.e. electrical resistivity tomography (ERT), electromagnetic induction (EMI), modified earth impedance (MEI) and ground-penetrating radar (GPR), each providing geophysical maps representing the spatial distribution of physical quantities that allow for the identification of structural and functioning roots.
Methods
The four geoelectric methods were applied to a semi-solitary 13-year-old European ash (Fraxinus excelsior) ‘Atlas’ (diameter at breast height = 15.1 cm, height = 8.3 m) situated in a 14 × 14 m plot. Subsequently, we unearthed the roots using an air spade to visualise the actual root system. A 3D model and orthomosaic of the root system was then created from 177 photographs. Finally, root-zone maps from each technique were compared with the excavated root system to determine the spatial accuracy of each method.
Results
Our results showed that the spatial accuracy of each method used to detect root system structure (conduction zones) varied widely, ranging from 12.38% for MEI, to 44.59% for GPR, 74.54% for EMI and up to 92.66% for ERT. The results for functioning roots (absorption zones) also varied along the same gradient, ranging from 14.06% for MEI, 50.63% for GPR, 84.64% for EMI and up to 105% for ERT.
Conclusions
Based on our case study, ERT, followed by EMI, provided the most reliable reconstruction of a tree’s root system, with EMI successfully detecting many individual absorption zones.
... When dealing with the tree effect on plants at the belowground level the first step is the detection of the contact between the tree roots and the monument. This can be investigated with sensors such as "georadar" as done for urban trees (Stokes et al., 2002) (Table 5). This procedure could take advantage of "three-dimensional root models"; unfortunately, such models are available only for central European countries while they are missing in other biogeographic regions where heritage site conservation is a main issue as well (Caneva et al., 2009). ...
... georadar); evaluation of tree risk index; pruning; felling considering structure consolidation; avoiding plant removal or pruning when providing bioprotection to the monument. Biddle, 1998;Stokes et al., 2002;Caneva et al., 2009Caneva et al., , 2006Tomao et al., 2015;Celesti-Grapow and Ricotta, 2021 Mosses Monuments Mechanic removal only when necessary; considering the improvement of the aesthetic value caused by mosses before removing. Tiano, 2001 Lichens Monuments ...
The conservation of historic gardens is crucial for safeguarding monumental, aesthetic, historical, ecological and economic values in many countries of the World, as well as associated services, such as carbon stock, microclimate and water regulation, biodiversity conservation, pollution removal, and recreation. In historic gardens, architectural and sculpture elements coexist with an abundant plant component, which is currently often precarious due to senescence processes occurring in many historic gardens nowadays. Unhealthy plants and reduced structural stability of trees represent a threat for both garden artistic structures and buildings, as well for the visitors’ safety. Awareness in garden managers about the most relevant and current threats is necessary for garden conservation. This review, through a global survey of the literature since 1990, addresses two main questions (1) which are the most relevant threats on historic gardens vegetation as affected by environmental, biological and anthropogenic causes, and how do they impact on monuments? (2) Which are related strategies to counteract these threats? Regarding the whole analysed period, the impact of the biotic component on monuments was the most discussed threat; in recent years a growing concern on the effects of climate change and pathogens and pests on historic garden plants also emerged. Strategies to address current and future challenges of historic gardens are hereby identified from experiences reported in worldwide literature and discussed. Best practices are collected in tables to provide managers of historic gardens with a valuable tool and guide to conserve and enhance their value. Due to the heterogeneity of the threats to be addressed, a multidisciplinary approach to ensure the conservation of historic gardens is recommended.
... The diurnal cycles under the black locust were found at the maximum depth of 3.1 m by Móricz et al. (2016), 3.2 m by Tóth et al. (2014), and 2.5 m by Bolla and Németh (2017). Similar root zone depths (from 0.8 to 3.3 m) were measured by Musters and Bouten (1999) and Stokes et al. (2002) under black pine. This hinders recharge to happen and mitigate the declines locally. ...
The decline in groundwater levels is a cause of concern in many regions of the world, including the Sand Ridge of Hungary. The causes of the regional depletion range from rising air temperatures, changes in precipitation, domestic and agricultural groundwater use and past amelioration and recent afforestation, including the effects of drilling for crude oil exploration. The relations between the decline, the soil water regime and groundwater recharge under existing aged forests remained unclear thus far. Based on our monitoring of groundwater and soil moisture we aim to clarify this interplay in a new experimental site on the hilltop of the Sand Ridge. We compared three land-uses: a41-year-old black locust (Robinia Pseudoacacia) offshoot forest, an 83-year-old first generation black pine (Pinus nigra)forest, and a grassland control site. The observed differences in the soil moisture profiles and dynamics were connected to the use of water by the given type of vegetation. We indicated a connection between the disruption of the groundwater recharge and the loss of contact of the rooting system of the forests with the deepening of the unconfined aquifer. Even if the aged forests could locally contribute to the decline, we conclude that the decline at the hilltop site that may be more strongly driven by other regional factors.
... Due to the attenuation of GPR signal, with increasing depth, strong hyperbolae from the shallow part of the soil may mask the deeper data. Additionally, the greatest limitation of GPR response mentioned in the literature is the difficulty of detecting multiple targets grouped together in terms of multiples and response interference from the objects close to each other(Stokes et al., 2002).2.4.3 Modeling Studies for Electrical Resistivity TomographyBefore starting to create modeling studies, we have designed a tentative infiltration experiment plan and used the same plan to base all our models. By judging from HYDRUS 1-D model (Figure 4)we have expected the infiltrated water front would reach down to 0.1-meter depth at the end of the first hour and to 0.4-meter depth in 72 hours. ...
Effects of the root structures on soil infiltration dynamics are not clearly defined. Imaging the complex tree root structures and movement of water through the root ball is a challenging task to achieve without damaging the trees and roots by conventional methods. Commonly used methods are invasive, labor-intensive, and not easily accessible. Ground Penetrating Radar (GPR) has commonly been used to characterize soil profiles and it can be a reliable tool to map complex root structures with a novel high-resolution circular data collection technique. Electrical resistivity tomography (ERT) is another reliable geophysical method to image infiltration processes by the change in soil resistivity due to change in water content. GPR and ERT cross-sections for different soil moisture levels were modeled and examined to delineate the capabilities of both methods. Test GPR and ERT data over radial patterns collected on a chosen tree to understand the capabilities of the methods and compared to the models that are based on different moisture levels of the soil. An infiltration experiment was designed and conducted on two different tree species to monitor infiltration processes around root balls in time. During the experiment, circular GPR and ERT data were collected. Temperature and humidity changes were monitored by in-situ measurements (i-buttons) during the experiment for quantitative comparison with geophysical data. As a result, a map of the root structure and soil moisture distribution images changing in time around the root ball were produced by employing novel high-resolution geophysical methods.
... Thus, the results indicate that upregulations of the fractionating metabolic processes (high ε met ) occurred in response to short-term depletions in soil moisture when long-term drought was beyond the critical level. In this respect, it is noteworthy that Pinus nigra reportedly has a well-developed lateral root system in upper soil layers to access soil water but can additionally tap into deep water sources if available (Stokes et al., 2002;Peñuelas & Filella, 2003). Furthermore, we found a significant negative correlation between ε met and annual C a (Table 2). ...
... Pinus nigra can access water from upper soil layers and from deep water sources (Stokes et al., 2002;Peñuelas & Filella, 2003). Accordingly, at our study site, metabolic responses apparently require long-term drought (possibly involving groundwater depletion). ...
Stable isotope abundances convey valuable information about plant physiological processes and underlying environmental controls. Central gaps in our mechanistic understanding of hydrogen isotope abundances impede their widespread application within the plant and biogeosciences.
To address these gaps, we analysed intramolecular deuterium abundances in glucose of Pinus nigra extracted from an annually resolved tree‐ring series (1961–1995).
We found fractionation signals (i.e. temporal variability in deuterium abundance) at glucose H¹ and H² introduced by closely related metabolic processes. Regression analysis indicates that these signals (and thus metabolism) respond to drought and atmospheric CO2 concentration beyond a response change point. They explain ≈ 60% of the whole‐molecule deuterium variability. Altered metabolism is associated with below‐average yet not exceptionally low growth.
We propose the signals are introduced at the leaf level by changes in sucrose‐to‐starch carbon partitioning and anaplerotic carbon flux into the Calvin–Benson cycle. In conclusion, metabolism can be the main driver of hydrogen isotope variation in plant glucose.
