ISSN:
1573-5036
Keywords:
Cracks
;
Crack orientation
;
Elongation rate
;
Pea
;
Penetration
;
Penetrometer
;
Rape
;
Roots
;
Safflower
;
Soil strength
;
Soil structure
;
Undisturbed soil
Source:
Springer Online Journal Archives 1860-2000
Topics:
Agriculture, Forestry, Horticulture, Fishery, Domestic Science, Nutrition
Notes:
Summary Experimental methods are described for observing the behaviour of roots growing over the surfaces of undisturbed soil clods and for roots growing along narrow cracks between two clods. Seminal roots of pea, rape and safflower were compared for a range of soil strengths and angles of inclination of the clod surfaces. For all three plant species, the ability of the roots to penetrate ped surfaces decreased with increasing soil strength and increasing angle of the surface relative to the horizontal. However, there was considerable variability of behaviour between roots. Roots were able to elongate more rapidly in cracks narrower than the root diameter than through undisturbed clods without cracks, provided that the crack was not orientated at an oblique angle to the preferred geotropic growth direction.
Type of Medium:
Electronic Resource
URL:
http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/BF02143606
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