Root architecture and visualization model of cotton group with different planting spacing under local irrigation

Chao Gao; Mingsi Li; Dongwei Li

doi:10.3389/fpls.2023.1080234

Root architecture and visualization model of cotton group with different planting spacing under local irrigation

Front Plant Sci. 2023 Apr 21:14:1080234. doi: 10.3389/fpls.2023.1080234. eCollection 2023.

Authors

Chao Gao¹, Mingsi Li², Dongwei Li³

Affiliations

¹ College of Agricultural Science and Engineering, Hohai University, Nanjing, China.
² College of Water Conservancy and Architecture Engineering, Shihezi University, Shihezi, China.
³ Farmland Irrigation Research Institute, Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Xinxiang, China.

Abstract

Planting spacing plays a key role in the root system architecture of the cotton group under local irrigation. This study used the Cellular Automata (CA) theory to establish a root visualization model for the cotton group at two different planting spacing (30 and 15 cm) within a leaching-pond. At a planting spacing of 30 cm, the lateral roots grew almost horizontally toward the irrigation point, and a logarithmic relationship was observed between root length density and soil water suction. However, at a planting spacing of 15 cm, the lateral roots exhibited overlapping growth and mainly competed for resources, and a power function relationship was observed between root length density and soil water suction. The main parameters of the visualization model for each treatment were essentially consistent with the experimental observations, with respective simulation errors were 6.03 and 15.04%. The findings suggest that the correlation between root length density and soil water suction in the cotton plants is a crucial driving force for the model, leading to a more accurate replication of the root structure development pathway. In conclusion, the root system exhibits a certain degree of self-similarity, which extends into the soil.

Keywords: cellular automata; planting spacing of cotton group; root density; root system architecture; soil water suction.

Grants and funding

This research was funded by China Scholarship Council (No. 202006710044), National Natural Science Foundation of China (grant number. 51709266). We thank the Key Laboratory of Modern Water-saving Irrigation of Shihezi University for providing the experimental sites.