Effect of Cynodon dactylon community on the conservation and reinforcement of riparian shallow soil in the Three Gorges Reservoir area

Ecological Processes

Table 1 Characteristics of C. dactylon's root system at various elevations

Elevation (m)	Root length (mm)	Root area (cm ² )	Number of root furcation	Root biomass (g)	Plant biomass (g)
155	65.598 ± 2.691b	7.970 ± 0.540b	1,120 ± 102b	0.052 ± 0.006b	0.720 ± 0.100c
160	69.634 ± 3.449b	8.275 ± 0.849b	1,684 ± 295ab	0.063 ± 0.009ab	0.852 ± 0.115c
165	79.356 ± 3.190a	13.440 ± 2.519ab	1,794 ± 247ab	0.069 ± 0.021ab	1.451 ± 0.333bc
170	80.626 ± 3.377a	13.928 ± 2.912ab	1,945 ± 387ab	0.101 ± 0.010ab	1.849 ± 0.217ab
175	83.033 ± 3.456a	17.638 ± 2.216a	2,981 ± 523a	0.111 ± 0.015a	2.214 ± 0.280a
Total	F = 5.542; significance = 0.000	F = 4.073; significance = 0.014	F = 3.940; significance = 0.016	F = 3.288; significance = 0.014	F = 7.830; significance = 0.000

Values are expressed as mean ± SE; means followed by the same letter(s) within each column are not significant at P < 0.05.