Analysis of root distribution and its effect on soil respiration using Hydrus

It is not yet certain if temperate forests are net sources or sinks for atmospheric carbon, making it difficult to assess their potential role in mitigating climate change.  Root distribution and root growth in forests are important for soil respiration in forest soils, which in turn is one of the factors that determine carbon sequestration in and release from these soils. The aim of this study is to examine the effect of rooting depth and root distribution on soil respiration in different types of forest in north-eastern Germany through simulations with the Hydrus-1D model. The model combines a solver for Richards’ equation for soil water flow with routines that determine incorporation of carbon in the soil biomass as well as CO₂ production by through respiration and decay. A  simple root distribution function with a single parameter will be used to model the root distribution. The presentation will report the first results of the study.