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RESEARCH ARTICLE
Contents Vol 33(12)

Root distributions of Australian herbaceous perennial legumes in response to phosphorus placement

Matthew D. Denton A B C E , Camille Sasse A , Mark Tibbett D and Megan H. Ryan A C
+ Author Affiliations
- Author Affiliations

A School of Plant Biology, M084, The University of Western Australia, 35 Stirling Hwy, Crawley, WA 6009, Australia.

B Primary Industries Research Victoria (PIRVic), Department of Primary Industries, Rutherglen Centre, RMB 1145 Chiltern Valley Road, Rutherglen, Victoria 3685, Australia.

C CRC for Plant-based Management of Dryland Salinity, The University of Western Australia, 35 Stirling Hwy, Crawley, WA 6009, Australia.

D Centre for Land Rehabilitation, School of Earth and Geographical Sciences, The University of Western Australia, 35 Stirling Hwy, Crawley, WA 6009, Australia.

E Corresponding author. Email: matthew.denton@dpi.vic.gov.au

Functional Plant Biology 33(12) 1091-1102 https://doi.org/10.1071/FP06176
Submitted: 18 July 2006  Accepted: 3 October 2006   Published: 1 December 2006

Abstract

Many Australian plant species have specific root adaptations for growth in phosphorus-impoverished soils, and are often sensitive to high external P concentrations. The growth responses of native Australian legumes in agricultural soils with elevated P availability in the surface horizons are unknown. The aim of these experiments was to test the hypothesis that increased P concentration in surface soil would reduce root proliferation at depth in native legumes. The effect of P placement on root distribution was assessed for two Australian legumes, Kennedia prorepens F. Muell. and Lotus australis Andrews, and the exotic Medicago sativa L. Three treatments were established in a low-P loam soil: amendment of 0.15 g mono-calcium phosphate in either (i) the top 50 mm (120 µg P g–1) or (ii) the top 500 mm (12 µg P g–1) of soil, and an unamended control. In the unamended soil M. sativa was shallow rooted, with 58% of the root length of in the top 50 mm. K. prorepens and L. australis had a more even distribution down the pot length, with only 4 and 22% of their roots in the 0–50 mm pot section, respectively. When exposed to amendment of P in the top 50 mm, root length in the top 50 mm increased 4-fold for K. prorepens and 10-fold for M. sativa, although the pattern of root distribution did not change for M. sativa. L. australis was relatively unresponsive to P additions and had an even distribution of roots down the pot. Shoot P concentrations differed according to species but not treatment (K. prorepens 2.1 mg g–1, L. australis 2.4 mg g–1, M. sativa 3.2 mg g–1). Total shoot P content was higher for K. prorepens than for the other species in all treatments. In a second experiment, mono-ester phosphatases were analysed from 1-mm slices of soil collected directly adjacent to the rhizosphere. All species exuded phosphatases into the rhizosphere, but addition of P to soil reduced phosphatase activity only for K. prorepens. Overall, high P concentration in the surface soil altered root distribution, but did not reduce root proliferation at depth. Furthermore, the Australian herbaceous perennial legumes had root distributions that enhanced P acquisition from low-P soils.

Keywords: alfalfa, Kennedia prorepens, Lotus australis, lucerne, Medicago sativa, phosphatase.


Acknowledgments

We thank Richard Bennett, CRC for Plant-based Management of Dryland Salinity, for providing seed, advice and rainfall data for native legumes. Pieter Poot provided excellent statistical assistance with the MDS analysis.


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