Summary
Cotton (Gossypium hirsutum cv Deltapine 61) was grown in a sloping plot of soil in the field to examine the effect of a gradient of water-table depth on soil nitrate availability and plant uptake during two periods of the growing season. Before the water-table was imposed NO3 was less concentrated at the lower end of the sloping plot. This was attributed to slow denitrification at microsites within the soil at the lower end which was wetter than further up the plot. At flooding NO3 disappeared only slowly due to a carbon substrate limitation to denitrification in the soil. This loss occurred primarily in areas where the water-table was high and oxygen concentration in the soil solution was low. Plant NO3 uptake, assessed by measuring the concentration in the xylem, parallelled the distribution of NO3 in the soil solution. Under high water-tables xylem NO3 levels fell but it was not possible to say whether this was due to impaired root function or to the reduced concentration of NO3 observed in the soil solution. At intermediate water-table depths where soil NO3 availability remained high xylem NO3 concentration fell relative to the well drained control plants, suggesting that flooding had damaged the root system.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Cannell R Q 1977 Soil aeration and compaction in relation to root growth and soil management.In Applied Biology II. Ed. T H Coaker pp. 1–86. Academic Press, London.
Dowdell R J and Smith K A 1974 Field studies of the soil atmosphere. II. Occurrence of nitrous oxide. J. Soil Science. 25, 231–238.
Focht D D and Verstraete W 1977 Biochemical ecology of nitrification and denitrification.In Advances in Microbial Ecology, Vol 1, Ed. M Alexander. pp. 135–214.
Hocking P J, Reicosky D C and Meyer W S 1985 Nitrogen status of cotton subjected to two short term periods of waterlogging of varying severity using a sloping plot water-table facility. Plant and Soil 87, 375–391.
Radin J W 1977 Contribution of the root system to nitrate assimilation in whole plants. Aust. J. Plant Physiol. 4, 811–819.
Reddy K R, Patrick Jr. W H and Phillips R E 1978 The role of diffusion in determining the order and rate of denitrification in flooded soil: I. Experimental results. Soil Sci. Soc. Am. J. 42, 268–272.
Reicosky D C, Meyer W S, Schaefer N L and Sides R D 1985 Cotton response to short term waterlogging, imposed with a water-table gradient facility Agric. Water Manag. 10, 127–143.
Reicosky D C, Smith R C G and Meyer W S 1985 Foliage temperature as a means of detecting stress of cotton subjected to a short term water-table gradient. Agric. For. Meteorol. 35, 193–203.
Scaife A and Stevens K 1977 Two minute sap test takes guesswork out of N levels. Grower 88, 1223–4.
Scholander P F, Hammel H T, Bradstreet E D and Hemmingsen E A 1965 Sap pressure in vascular plants. Science 148, 339–346.
Trought M C T and Drew M C 1980 The development of waterlogging damage in wheat seedlings (Triticum aestivum L.). II. Accumulation and redistribution of nutrients by the shoot. Plant and Soil 56, 187–199.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Additional information
Manufactured by Merck. Mention of commerical names does not imply endorsement by either CSIRO or USDA.
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Schaefer, N.L., Melhuish, F.M., Reicosky, D.C. et al. The effect of an intermittent water-table gradient on soil and xylem nitrate in cotton. Plant Soil 97, 71–77 (1987). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02149825
Received:
Revised:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02149825