Collection of soil samples

Part V

Sago Root

According to Miyazaki et al. (personal communication), no roots were observed[1 m distance from 1- year-old sago palms, whereas 20 and 42% of total roots were distributed between 1 and 2 m distances from 3- and 5-year-old sago palms, respectively. They also observed that the root biomass of 1- to 5- year-old sago palms were concentrated within the surface 30 cm layer.
Based on these information, soil samples (triplicate) were collected from: 1) 10–15 cm depth at 1, 3, and 5 m distances from a sago palm in P1B10, P1B18 (transplantation in 1998), and P4B13 in December 2002, and 2) three layers of 10–15 (designated 10), 30–35 (30), and 50–55 (50) cm depths at 1 m distance from a sago palm plant in P3B3, P7B4, and P8B19 in July 2003. Last fertilizer application before soil sampling was September, 2002. In July 2003, three soil layers of 10–15, 30– 35, and 50–55 cm depths were also collected from the secondary forests adjusting to the three blocks. Soil samples were air-dried and sieved (\2 mm) before analysis. Soil bulk density was measured separately in triplicates.