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Changes of daily temperature in 2018 (a), average of 10-year records of precipitation, sunny hours and rainy days (b), and scanned images of fine root growth (c). Early rainy season starts late May/early June when precipitation is higher than 100 mm/month. While a precipitation > 20 mm/day is known as heavy rain.
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Through a series of scanned images, the growth of already formed and new fine roots can be observed and measured nondestructively (Fig 1C). Fine root length can be measured nondestructively for time-intervals through series of images captured periodically (Fig 1C) by using Rootfly (SmartRoot), a semi-automated image analysis software.
Experiment layout (a), a buried transparent scanner box (b), and scanning (c).
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There were 9 subplots in a main plot (Fig 2. In this study, scanner boxes made of transparent plastic were buried in three subplots (Fig 2A and 2B) in September 2017. A mobile A4-scanner was placed in the box and connected to a Laptop through a USB cable for scanning (Fig 2C). Then, AGB of each replicate was total biomass of all stems in that replicate (subplot; Fig 2).
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