Description of the soil and root biomass of two subtropical mangroves in Antonina and Guaratuba Bay, Paraná State, Brazil

ABSTRACT The soil of the mangroves influences the root anchorage and the nutrition processes of the plant community. This study evaluated the relationships among edaphic conditions, volume and biomass of roots, and tree structure of two mangroves in Paraná State. Five soil cores of 50 cm depth were collected from each mangrove for physicochemical analysis. Organosoil thiomorphic salic sodic predominated in Antonina Bay, while in Guaratuba Bay were observed the Gleysoil thiomorphic salic sodic and the Organosoil thiomorphic salic sodic. Fifteen root samples were collected from each mangrove area for root volume and dry mass analysis'?'. The higher values of root mass were found in Guaratuba Bay. The chemical analysis of the soil showed no correlation between biomass and root volume. The high coefficients of variation attested the high heterogeneity in the root distribution in both areas. However, in the Guaratuba Bay, root mass and volume are higher due to the textural composition of the soil and higher tree density.