In the context of a recent massive increase in research on plant root functions and their
impact on the environment, root ecologists currently face many important challenges to keep …

Plant rooting depth affects ecosystem resilience to environmental stress such as drought.
Deep roots connect deep soil/groundwater to the atmosphere, thus influencing the …

The rooting-zone water-storage capacity—the amount of water accessible to plants—
controls the sensitivity of land–atmosphere exchange of water and carbon during dry …

Ecologists are increasingly adopting trait-based approaches to understand how community
change influences ecosystem processes. However, most of this research has focussed on …

Although the above and belowground sizes and shapes of plants strongly influence plant
competition, community structure, and plant–environment interactions, plant sizes and …

There is growing recognition that classifying terrestrial plant species on the basis of their
function (into'functional types') rather than their higher taxonomic identity, is a promising way …

Methods for identifying species by using short orthologous DNA sequences, known as “DNA
barcodes,” have been proposed and initiated to facilitate biodiversity studies, identify …

When roots encounter a nutrient‐rich zone or patch they often proliferate within it. Roots
experiencing nutrient‐rich patches can also enhance their physiological ion‐uptake …

1 In water-limited environments, the availability of water and nutrients to plants depends on
environmental conditions, sizes and shapes of their root systems, and root competition. The …

Studies in global plant biogeography have almost exclusively analyzed relationships of
abiotic and biotic factors with the distribution and structure of vegetation aboveground. The …