Soil water dynamics, root systems, and plant responses in a semiarid grassland of Southern Patagonia
Distribution of water enables different ecological niches and the coexistence of species. This separation may be in space: vertically in the soil profile or horizontally by lateral root exploration; and in time, as plants may use water at different periods. This study focused on the soil-plant water...
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| Format: | Artículo |
| Language: | Inglés |
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Elsevier
2025
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| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.12123/22299 https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0140196314000202 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jaridenv.2014.01.009 |
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| author | Ferrante, Daniela Oliva, Gabriel Esteban Fernández, Roberto J. |
| author_browse | Fernández, Roberto J. Ferrante, Daniela Oliva, Gabriel Esteban |
| author_facet | Ferrante, Daniela Oliva, Gabriel Esteban Fernández, Roberto J. |
| author_sort | Ferrante, Daniela |
| collection | INTA Digital |
| description | Distribution of water enables different ecological niches and the coexistence of species. This separation may be in space: vertically in the soil profile or horizontally by lateral root exploration; and in time, as plants may use water at different periods. This study focused on the soil-plant water relation in semiarid Patagonia. Water potential at three depths: 10, 25 and 60 cm, and water content beneath vegetated and bare batches were measured. Access to water in the soil profile was studied in two grasses and a dwarf shrub based on the root biomass. Soil was usually dry at 10 cm ( 1.22 MPa 0.25) and 25 cm ( 1.00MPa 0.14) during summer. In dry years, it was also dry during autumn ( 1.17 MPa 0.32) at 10 cm depth). At 60-cm depth, soil was moist year-round ( 0.38 MPa 0.05). Soil conditions were not spatially homogeneous, as bare soil patches showed higher water content than vegetated patches. Dwarf
shrubs presented both shallow and long roots, that extended laterally instead of exploring deep soil. It is hypothesized that this lateral expansion may give access to water under the bare soil patches, a resource that is not available to the other life forms. |
| format | Artículo |
| id | INTA22299 |
| institution | Instituto Nacional de Tecnología Agropecuaria (INTA -Argentina) |
| language | Inglés |
| publishDate | 2025 |
| publishDateRange | 2025 |
| publishDateSort | 2025 |
| publisher | Elsevier |
| publisherStr | Elsevier |
| record_format | dspace |
| spelling | INTA222992025-05-16T10:07:28Z Soil water dynamics, root systems, and plant responses in a semiarid grassland of Southern Patagonia Ferrante, Daniela Oliva, Gabriel Esteban Fernández, Roberto J. Leaf Water Potential Pastures Semi-arid Zones Potencial Hídrico de la Hoja Pastizales Zonas Semiáridas Santa Cruz (Argentina) Rainfall Event Rangeland Hydrology Root Biomass Vegetation Patches Evento de Lluvia Hidrología de Pastizales Biomasa de Raices Parches de Vegetación Región Patagónica Distribution of water enables different ecological niches and the coexistence of species. This separation may be in space: vertically in the soil profile or horizontally by lateral root exploration; and in time, as plants may use water at different periods. This study focused on the soil-plant water relation in semiarid Patagonia. Water potential at three depths: 10, 25 and 60 cm, and water content beneath vegetated and bare batches were measured. Access to water in the soil profile was studied in two grasses and a dwarf shrub based on the root biomass. Soil was usually dry at 10 cm ( 1.22 MPa 0.25) and 25 cm ( 1.00MPa 0.14) during summer. In dry years, it was also dry during autumn ( 1.17 MPa 0.32) at 10 cm depth). At 60-cm depth, soil was moist year-round ( 0.38 MPa 0.05). Soil conditions were not spatially homogeneous, as bare soil patches showed higher water content than vegetated patches. Dwarf shrubs presented both shallow and long roots, that extended laterally instead of exploring deep soil. It is hypothesized that this lateral expansion may give access to water under the bare soil patches, a resource that is not available to the other life forms. EEA Santa Cruz, INTA Fil: Ferrante, Daniela. Instituto Nacional de Tecnología Agropecuaria (INTA). Estación Experimental Agropecuaria Santa Cruz; Argentina. Fil: Ferrante, Daniela. Universidad Nacional de la Patagonia Austral. Unidad Académica Río Gallegos; Argentina. Fil: Oliva, Gabriel Esteban. Instituto Nacional de Tecnología Agropecuaria (INTA). Estación Experimental Agropecuaria Santa Cruz; Argentina. Fil: Oliva, Gabriel Esteban. Universidad Nacional de la Patagonia Austral. Unidad Académica Río Gallegos; Argentina. Fil: Fernández, Roberto J. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Instituto de Investigaciones Fisiológicas y Ecológicas Vinculadas a la Agricultura; Argentina. Fil: Fernández, Roberto J. Universidad de Buenos Aires. Facultad de Agronomía. Instituto de Investigaciones Fisiológicas y Ecológicas Vinculadas a la Agricultura; Argentina. 2025-05-16T10:02:03Z 2025-05-16T10:02:03Z 2014-05 info:ar-repo/semantics/artículo info:eu-repo/semantics/article info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersion http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.12123/22299 https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0140196314000202 Ferrante D, Oliva G, Fernández R. 2014. Soil water dynamics, root systems, and plant responses in a semiarid grassland of Southern Patagonia. Journal of Arid Environments 104:52-58. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.jaridenv.2014.01.009 0140-1963 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jaridenv.2014.01.009 eng info:eu-repo/semantics/restrictedAccess http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/4.0/ Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International (CC BY-NC-SA 4.0) application/pdf Elsevier Journal of Arid Environments 104 : 52-58. (May 2014) |
| spellingShingle | Leaf Water Potential Pastures Semi-arid Zones Potencial Hídrico de la Hoja Pastizales Zonas Semiáridas Santa Cruz (Argentina) Rainfall Event Rangeland Hydrology Root Biomass Vegetation Patches Evento de Lluvia Hidrología de Pastizales Biomasa de Raices Parches de Vegetación Región Patagónica Ferrante, Daniela Oliva, Gabriel Esteban Fernández, Roberto J. Soil water dynamics, root systems, and plant responses in a semiarid grassland of Southern Patagonia |
| title | Soil water dynamics, root systems, and plant responses in a semiarid grassland of Southern Patagonia |
| title_full | Soil water dynamics, root systems, and plant responses in a semiarid grassland of Southern Patagonia |
| title_fullStr | Soil water dynamics, root systems, and plant responses in a semiarid grassland of Southern Patagonia |
| title_full_unstemmed | Soil water dynamics, root systems, and plant responses in a semiarid grassland of Southern Patagonia |
| title_short | Soil water dynamics, root systems, and plant responses in a semiarid grassland of Southern Patagonia |
| title_sort | soil water dynamics root systems and plant responses in a semiarid grassland of southern patagonia |
| topic | Leaf Water Potential Pastures Semi-arid Zones Potencial Hídrico de la Hoja Pastizales Zonas Semiáridas Santa Cruz (Argentina) Rainfall Event Rangeland Hydrology Root Biomass Vegetation Patches Evento de Lluvia Hidrología de Pastizales Biomasa de Raices Parches de Vegetación Región Patagónica |
| url | http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.12123/22299 https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0140196314000202 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jaridenv.2014.01.009 |
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