QUANTIFYING ROOT DISTRIBUTION AND GRAIN SIZE ANALYSIS IN WETLAND PLANT COMMUNITIES WITH IMPLICATIONS FOR ROOT WATER UPTAKE

Exploring the relationship between root density distribution, grain size analysis and volumetric water content can help constrain root water uptake. These results support efforts to detail how climate change will affect certain plant communities. To investigate this relationship, we quantified root density distribution, grain size, and volumetric water content in six distinct plant communities throughout the growing season. Field sampling and monitoring was conducted within a 200 m² plot at Iroquois National Wildlife Refuge near Basom, NY. This formally glaciated site was an ideal setting for this research because of the heterogeneous near-surface geology typically found within the Great Lakes Basin. In each plant community, soil cores were collected throughout the growing season down to a maximum rooting depth (60-90 cm) using a 15 cm interval soil auger. Roots were washed from the samples, then dried and weighed according to standard methods to determine root density by depth. Soil moisture probes were installed in these communities at depths of 15, 30, and 60 cm to continuously monitor volumetric water content. Of these six plant life communities, the grassland variety showed to have the greatest root density — specifically at the depth of 0-15 cm — and largest volumetric water content. The results presented here can help to improve the root water uptake function in ecohydrology models that forecast how plant communities may be affected by a changing climate.