Patterns of root architecture adaptation of a phreatophytic perennial desert plant in a hyperarid desert

Plant root systems can respond to nutrient availability and distribution by changing the three-dimensional deployment of their root architecture. The year after year variation of root architecture was investigated in a perennial phreatophyte in the controlled condition vegetation situated in the oasis in the Chinese Taklamakan desert with the goal to elucidate their adaptation to hyperarid environment. The whole plants of an indigenous perennial legume Alhagi sparsifolia Shap. with intact root systems were excavated at the end of each growing season from 2007 to 2009 and analyzed for architecture, above and belowground biomass, root/shoot ratio, root depth, seed yields and ramet. Changes in water availability were found to have stupendous effects on taproot depth, lateral root length and ramet quantity. Relative to shoot dry weight, taproot depth decreased with increasing water availability. In contrast, lateral root elongation was promoted by higher water availability. We tested the hypothesis that (1) irrigation increases root biomass and the quantity of ramets, and (2) A. sparsifolia Shap. develops an efficient root architecture that could absorb soil water and nutrition.