Root Biology Lab at
The Morton Arboretum

FRED is alive!

We've been working for several years to build a global database of fine-root traits. Lovingly dubbed the Fine-Root Ecology Database (FRED), version 2.0 is now fully available for download. Click the tab below to learn more and get FRED! Once there, you can send us your comments and feedback.  FRED is on a journey and you can help make it better.

Recent Publications

McCormack ML and CM Iversen. Physical and functional constraints on viable belowground acquisition strategies. Frontiers in Plant Science, 10: 1-12 (2019).

Addo-Danso S, C Defrenne, C Prescott, ML McCormack, I Ostonen, A Addo-Danso, E Foli, K Borden, I Marney. Fine-root morphological trait variation in tropical forest ecosystems: an evidence synthesis. Plant Ecology, In press.

Soudzilovskaia N, Peter M van Bodegom, C Terrer, M van’t Zelfde, I McCallum, ML McCormack, JB Fisher, M Brundrett, NC de Sá, L Tedersoo. Global mycorrhizal plants distribution linked to terrestrial carbon stocks. Nature Communications, 10: 5077 (2019).

Defrenne CE, ML McCormack, SD Addo-Danso, SW Simard. Intraspecific fine-root trait-environment relationships across interior Douglas-fir forests of western Canada. Plants, 8: 199 (2019).

See CR, ML McCormack, SE Hobbie, H Flores-Moreno, WL Silver, PG Kennedy. Global patterns in fine-root decomposition: climate, chemistry, mycorrhizal association and woodiness. Ecology Letters, 22: 946-953 (2019).

Li F, H Hu, ML McCormack, D Feng, X Liu, W Bao. A community-level economics spectrum of fine-roots driven by nutrient limitations in subalpine forests. Journal of Ecology, 107: 1238-1249 (2019).
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Dybzinski R, A Kelvakis, J McCabe, S Panock, K Anuchitlertchon, L Vasarhelyi, ML McCormack, GG McNickle, H Poorter, C Trinder, CE Farrior. How are nitrogen availability, fine-root mass, and nitrogen uptake related empirically? Implications for models and theory. Global Change Biology, 25: 885-899 (2019).

Li L, ML McCormack, F Chen, H Wang, Z Ma, D Guo.  Different responses of absorptive roots and arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi to fertilization provide diverse nutrient acquisition strategies in Chinese fir. Forest Ecology and Management, 433: 64-7 (2019).

Caplan JS, SJ Meiners, H Flores-Moreno, ML McCormack. Fine-root traits are linked to species dynamics in a successional plant community. Ecology, 100: e02588 (2019).

Wang C, ML McCormack, D Guo, J Li. Angiosperms and gymnosperms differ in patterns of root carbon allocation along environmental gradients. Journal of Biogeography, 46: 123-133 (2019). ​​

McCormack ML, AS Powell, CM Iversen. Letter: Better plant data at the root of ecosystem models. Eos, (2018).

Zhu K*, ML McCormack*, RA Lankau, JF Egan, N Wurzburger. Soil carbon and nitrogen relate to mycorrhizal association of forest trees across eastern North America. Journal of Ecology, 106: 524-535 (2018). *Authors contributed equally to this work.