Root niche partitioning among grasses, saplings, and trees measured using a tracer technique
Niche partitioning of resources by plants is believed to be a fundamental aspect of plant coexistence and biogeochemical cycles; however, measurements of the timing and location of resource use are often lacking because of the difficulties of belowground research. To measure niche partitioning of soil water by grasses, planted saplings, and trees in a mesic savanna (Kruger National Park, South Africa), we injected deuterium oxide into 102,000 points in 15, 154-m2 plots randomly assigned to one of five depths (0–120 cm) and one of three time periods during the 2008/2009 growing season.