<abstract xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml"><p>The root system architecture (RSA) displays complex morphological characteristics because of diverse root growth behaviors. Recent studies have revealed that swarming behavior among roots is particularly important for RSA to adapt to environmental stimuli. However, few models are proposed to simulate RSA based on swarming behavior of roots. To analyze plasticity of RSA affected by swarming behavior, we propose viewing it as a swarm of single roots. A swarming behavior model is proposed by considering repulsion, alignment, and preference of individual single roots. Then, the swarming behavior model is integrated into a simple and generic RSA model (called ArchiSimple). Lastly, characteristics of RSA affected by swarming behavior model and non-swarming behavior model are compared and analyzed under three different virtual soil sets. The characteristics of RSA (such as primary root length, lateral root length, lateral roots, and resource uptake) are significantly promoted by swarming behavior. Root system distributions can also be greatly affected by swarming behavior. These results show that root foraging and exploration in soil can be regarded as collective behavior of individual single root.</p></abstract>

The root system architecture (RSA) displays complex morphological characteristics because of diverse root growth behaviors. Recent studies have revealed that swarming behavior among roots is particularly important for RSA to adapt to environmental stimuli. However, few models are proposed to simulate RSA based on swarming behavior of roots. To analyze plasticity of RSA affected by swarming behavior, we propose viewing it as a swarm of single roots. A swarming behavior model is proposed by considering repulsion, alignment, and preference of individual single roots. Then, the swarming behavior model is integrated into a simple and generic RSA model (called ArchiSimple). Lastly, characteristics of RSA affected by swarming behavior model and non-swarming behavior model are compared and analyzed under three different virtual soil sets. The characteristics of RSA (such as primary root length, lateral root length, lateral roots, and resource uptake) are significantly promoted by swarming behavior. Root system distributions can also be greatly affected by swarming behavior. These results show that root foraging and exploration in soil can be regarded as collective behavior of individual single root.

Analysis of Root System Architecture Affected by Swarming Behavior

Journal of Horticultural Research

This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 3.0 License.

{"article-title":"Analysis of Root System Architecture Affected by Swarming Behavior"}

The root system architecture (RSA) displays complex morphological characteristics because of diverse root growth behaviors. Recent studies have revealed that...

Analysis of Root System Architecture Affected by Swarming Behavior

Publié en ligne: 30 juin 2020

Pages: 1 - 12

Reçu: 01 janv. 2020

Accepté: 01 mars 2020

DOI: https://doi.org/10.2478/johr-2020-0006

Mots clés
swarming behavior, root growth strategies, soil environment, functional-structural root modeling, root plasticity

© 2020 Songyang Li et al., published by Sciendo

This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 3.0 License.

Analysis of Root System Architecture Affected by Swarming Behavior

Publié en ligne: 30 juin 2020

Pages: 1 - 12

Reçu: 01 janv. 2020

Accepté: 01 mars 2020

DOI: https://doi.org/10.2478/johr-2020-0006

Mots clésswarming behavior, root growth strategies, soil environment, functional-structural root modeling, root plasticity

© 2020 Songyang Li et al., published by Sciendo

This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 3.0 License.

Mots clés
swarming behavior, root growth strategies, soil environment, functional-structural root modeling, root plasticity