3 Results
3.1 Rooting depthwith different RFC
treatments
The fine root depth of the three woody species increased with the
increase in RFC gradient, and these species exhibited the deepest
distribution at 75% RFC over the 3 years (Fig. 1 and 2). However, the
rooting pattern of fine roots in A. vestita was contrary to that
of the other woody species along the RFC gradient
(P < 0.01, Table
S1). The fine root depth coefficient (β ) ofA. vestita decreased with
increasing RFC and was the largest in rock-free soil over the 3 years
(Fig. 1 and 2 a). With the increase in age,
the variation range of fine root
depth along the RFC gradient showed an increasing trend in A.
vestita (Fig. 2 a–d), but showed a decreasing pattern for the three
woody species (Fig. 2)