Conclusions
Our results found that over 85% of species predominantly placed their
fine roots in the 0-10 cm soil zone, resulting in the accumulation ofc. 70% of fine root abundance in the 0-30 cm soil zone in our
experimental subtropical forest. The low differentiation in relative
root distribution among species, the neutral effect of root neighbours
on species relative root distributions and the random-to-aggregated
root-placement patterns suggest similar topsoil foraging among
heterospecific roots and the adoption of alternative resource
acquisition strategies that promotes species co-existence.