DOI: 10.5061/dryad.9w0vt4bm9
title: Data for: Linking root traits to phytoremediation in trees and shrubs: implications of root economics spectrum

description: Phytoremediation is a promising technique for removing or stabilizing
 metal ions from metallic trace elements (MTEs) contaminated soils. Despite
 the significant role of roots in plant growth and survival, limited
 information is available on the functional covariation of root traits
 under MTEs stress, and linkages between root resource-use strategies and
 phytoremediation functioning. Sixteen root traits were measured across 11
 trees and shrubs grown in Pb-Zn mine tailings in Southeastern China, to
 examine whether a hypothesized root economics spectrum (RES) exists under
 extremely high levels of multiple MTEs stress and evaluate the importance
 of root functional traits in explaining phytoremediation functioning. Our
 findings offer evidence supporting the widely accepted resource-use
 strategy of acquisitive-conservative. Furthermore, we have identified a
 distinct dimension of RES representing the trade-off between root system
 size and root tissue density. This new dimension highlights the critical
 importance of root size, shape, and proliferation strategy in the context
 of metal-contaminated soil. Moreover, a trade-off between root cadmium
 concentration and root dry matter content was observed, which implies the
 existence of a presumable biomass cost for MTEs' accumulation. We
 identified specific key root traits and their contributions to MTE
 translocation and bioconcentration and established linkages between root
 resource-use strategy and phytoremediation: roots with more acquisitive
 traits promote MTE translocation, while conservative roots foster
 bioconcentration. In addition, acquisitive roots usually exhibit lower
 biomass costs for accumulating MTEs than do conservative roots. Synthesis
 and applications Our results highlight the important role of root
 size-related traits in the RES framework in metal-contaminated soil.
 Furthermore, we discovered that woody species exhibit different capacities
 for accumulating or translocating MTEs, depending on their root system
 shapes and their position on the axis of RES. These findings provide
 valuable support for the accurate selection of suitable plant species for
 ecological restoration purposes. And they hold significant potential in
 guiding the development of efficient phytoremediation strategies
 specifically targeting sites contaminated with MTEs.
description: # **Data for: Linking root traits to phytoremediation in trees and shrubs:
 implications of root economics spectrum** --- ## Description of the data
 and file structure Column A is root types resulted from a cluster analysis
 based on column C-O, column B is the abbreviations of species, column C-K
 are nine key root traits for PCA1, plus column PV are all root traits for
 PCA2. Columns C-Q are explanatory variables and X-AI as response variables
 for linear regressions. The unit and full name of the abbreviations in the
 headline are: * RD cm root depth * RS cm root spread * AD mm average
 diameter * RTD g.cm-3 root tissue density * SRL cm.g-1 specific root
 length * SRA m2.g-1 specific root area * RN g.kg-1 root nitrogen content *
 RMA g.cm-2 root mass per area * RDMC g.g-1 root dry matter content * MRL
 cm maximum lateral root length * TL cm total length * SA cm2 surface area
 * FLR % fine root length ratio * RP g.kg-1 root phosphorus content * RK
 g.kg-1 root potissium content * R_Pb mg.kg-1 root lead content * R_Zn
 mg.kg-1 root zinc content * R_Cd mg.kg-1 root cadmium content * R_As
 mg.kg-1 root arsenic content * R_Cu mg.kg-1 root copper content * TF_Pb
 unitless Tanslocation factor of lead * TF_Zn unitless Tanslocation factor
 of zinc * TF_Cu unitless Tanslocation factor of copper * TF_As unitless
 Tanslocation factor of arsenic * TF_Cd unitless Tanslocation factor of
 cadmium * BCF_Pb unitless bioconcentration factor of lead * BCF_Zn
 unitless bioconcentration factor of zinc * BCF_Cu unitless
 bioconcentration factor of copper * BCF_As unitless bioconcentration
 factor of arsenic * BCF_Cd unitless bioconcentration factor of cadmium *
 CBAI unitless comprehensive bioaccumulation index * CBCI unitless
 comprehensive bioconcentration index