This is an integrated review of the mechanisms controlling plant nutrient uptake and how plants respond to changes in the environment. Among key topics covered are: soil nutrient bioavailability; root responses to variations in nutrient supply; nitrogen fixation; root architecture; life span; mycorrhizae; responses to climate change. The book helps us understand the mechanisms that govern present-day plant communities and to predict the response of plants to a changing climate.

Zusammenfassung

Adaptation and evolution of terrestrial plants depend, to a large extent, on their ability to acquire nutrients. This is a modern and integrative treatment of the mechanisms controlling plant nutrient uptake and how plants respond to changes in the environment. The following key topics are covered: soil nutrient bioavailability; root responses to variations in nutrient supply; nitrogen fixation; regulation of nutrient uptake by internal plant demand; root characteristics; kinetics of nutrient uptake; root architecture; life span; mycorrhizae; responses to climate change. This integrated view helps us to understand the mechanisms that govern present-day plant communities and is indispensable in models designed to predict the response of plants to a changing climate.

Inhalt

Soil Factors Affecting Nutrient Bioavailability.- Decomposition and Mineralization of Nutrients from Litter and Humus.- Integrated Root Responses to Variations in Nutrient Supply.- Internal Regulation of Nutrient Uptake by Relative Growth Rate and Nutrient-Use Efficiency.- Biological Nitrogen Fixation Associated with Angiosperms in Terrestrial Ecosystems.- Homeostatic Processes for the Optimization of Nutrient Absorption: Physiology and Molecular Biology.- Root Architecture and Nutrient Acquisition.- The Efficiency of Nutrient Acquisition over the Life of a Root.- Action and Interaction in the Mycorrhizal Hyphosphere - a Re-evaluation of the Role of Mycorrhizas in Nutrient Acquisition and Plant Ecology.- Effects of Soil Temperature on Nutrient Uptake.- Nutrient Acquisition of Terrestrial Plants in a Changing Climate.- From Molecular Biology to Biogeochemistry: Toward an Integrated View of Plant Nutrient Uptake.