The buckling of plant roots

Whiteley, G. M.; Hewitt, J. S.; Dexter, A. R.

doi:10.1111/j.1399-3054.1982.tb00268.x

Cited by 77 publications

(38 citation statements)

References 12 publications

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“…In addition, this study showed that the proportion increased with depth (Table 2), in agreement with the result from an experimental study on artificial macropores (Nakamoto, 1997). A root cannot easily exit from the biopore it has entered mainly because the root tip cannot attain an appropriate angle to penetrate into the side wall of the biopore without buckling (Whiteley et al, 1982). The side wall of the biopore, which is more or less compacted, is also a hindrance to lateral root penetration .…”

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 78%

The Distribution of Wheat and Maize Roots as Influenced by Biopores in a Subsoil of the Kanto Loam Type

Nakamoto

2000

Plant Production Science

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: Biopores are tubular soil macropores left by plant roots after their decay or burrowed by soil animals, which provide channels for deep rooting and improve crop access to water and nutrients. The density of biopores, number of biopores per unit area, and proportion of biopores occupied by roots were measured on horizontal soil profiles at 30, 50, and 70 em in depth in a fine-texture subsoil of Andosol (Light clay, a volcanic ash of the Kanto loam type) at the mature stage of wheat and maize. Images of 0. 1 mm resolution from the pictures of cleaned profile surfaces were examined on a computer display. Dark spots with a circular and smooth boundary were regarded as biopores. The density of biopores larger than 1 mm in diameter ranged from 500 to 2, 000 m-2 • The percentage of biopores occupied by roots was more than 30% of biopores larger than 1 mm and increased with depth. Roots were accumulated in biopores. The proportion of biopores ( > 1 mm) with roots increased with depth. It was 28-35% in the wheat plot and 14-20% in the maize plot. This suggested that thinner wheat roots easily entered a biopore and remained in it. The possible influence of biopores on the spatial distribution of roots was discussed.

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Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 78%

The Distribution of Wheat and Maize Roots as Influenced by Biopores in a Subsoil of the Kanto Loam Type

Nakamoto

2000

Plant Production Science

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“…~ 3d to 10d, so ℓ ! ~ 3 − 10 mm for a millimeter root diameter d. This has to be compared with the typical air gaps in the soils, which are often in the range between 0 and 3 mm [145].…”

Section: A) Reorientation Of Root Growth Direction Through Lasting Comentioning

confidence: 99%

Physical root–soil interactions

2017

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Abstract. Plant root system development is highly modulated by the physical properties of the soil and especially by its mechanical resistance to penetration. The interplay between the mechanical stresses exerted by the soil and root growth is of particular interest for many communities, in agronomy and soil science as well as in biomechanics and plant morphogenesis. In contrast to aerial organs, roots apices must exert a growth pressure to penetrate strong soils and reorient their growth trajectory to cope with obstacles like stones or hardpans or to follow the tortuous paths of the soil porosity. In this review, we present the main macroscopic investigations of soil-root physical interactions in the field and combine them with simple mechanistic modeling derived from model experiments at the scale of the individual root apex.2

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“…Second, a lateral root in a large diameter biopore must traverse an air gap before striking the pore wall. As the width of the air gap which a lateral must traverse before striking the pore wall increases, the axial pressure at which the unconfined root will buckle becomes smaller (Whiteley et al, 1982). Buckling of roots lowers the angle of incidence between the root tip and the pore wall, causing the lateral root to be deflected so that it becomes trapped in the biopore.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Soil structure and plant growth: Impact of bulk density and biopores

Stirzaker

Passioura

Wilms³

1996

Plant Soil

265

163

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Compacted soils are not uniformly hard; they usually contain structural cracks and biopores, the continuous large pores that are formed by soil fauna and by roots of previous crops. Roots growing in compacted soils can traverse otherwise impenetrable soil by using biopores and cracks and thus gain access to a larger reservoir of water and nutrients. Experiments were conducted in a growth chamber to determine the plant response to a range of uniform soil densities, and the effect of artificial and naturally-formed biopores. Barley plants grew best at an intermediate bulk density, which presumably represented a compromise between soil which was soft enough to allow good root development but sufficiently compact to give good root-soil contact. Artificial 3.2 mm diameter biopores made in hard soil gave roots access to the full depth of the pot and were occupied by roots more frequently than expected by chance alone. This resulted in increased ~plant growth in experiments where the soil was allowed to dry. Our experiments suggest that large biopores were ~ not a favourable environment for roots in wet soil; barley plants grew better in pots containing a network of narrov~ biopores made by lucerne and ryegrass roots, responded positively to biopores being filled with peat, and some pea radicles died in biopores. A theoretical analysis of water uptake gave little support to the hypothesis that water supply to the leaves was limiting in either very hard or very soft soil. The net effect of biopores to the plant would be the benefits of securing extra water and nutrients from depth, offset by problems related to poor root-soil contact in the biopore and impeded laterals in the compacted biopore walls.

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The buckling of plant roots

Cited by 77 publications

References 12 publications

The Distribution of Wheat and Maize Roots as Influenced by Biopores in a Subsoil of the Kanto Loam Type

The Distribution of Wheat and Maize Roots as Influenced by Biopores in a Subsoil of the Kanto Loam Type

Physical root–soil interactions

Soil structure and plant growth: Impact of bulk density and biopores

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