The International Society of Root Research sponsored the Symposium "Root Demographics and Their Efficiencies in Sustainable Agriculture, GrassLands and Forest Ecosystems," July 14-18, 1996, at the Madren Conference Center, Clemson University, Clemson, South Carolina, USA. The conference was a continuation of a series of international symposiums on root research held every three to four years. Symposiums have also been held twice in Vienna, Austria, and once in Uppsala, Sweden, and Almaty, Kazahkstan prior to the meeting at Clemson University. The sponsoring society has made a particular effort in these symposia to include root scientists from the former Soviet Union because of the importance of exchanging information on a worldwide basis. This symposium continued and promoted that effort by providing travel grants to several scientists from that region; however, funds for that purpose were limited. Therefore, in compiling these proceedings, a number of papers from scientists from the former Soviet Union and former Warsaw Pack countries have been included even though the scientists were not actually present for the SymPOSIum.

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SECTION I: Global Patterns of Carbon Allocation.- SECTION II: Managed and Unmanaged Ecosystems.- SECTION III: Sustainable Agroecosystems.- 16. Eastern gamagrass (Tripsacum dactyloides) root penetration into and chemical properties of claypan soils.- 17. Effect of submergence on the growth and development of aerenchyma in the roots of maize seedlings.- 18. Seasonal variation in root growth of three grass species under varying cutting treatments.- 19. Some aspects of the root system of tall fescue (Festuca arundinacea Schreb.).- 20. Dynamics of below-ground plant organs in grasslands.- 21. Effects of water supply in the upper and lower soil profiles of deep soil on root characteristics and dry matter production of winter wheat.- 22. Wheat root systems and water utilization in a semi-arid region.- 23. Common root rot of pea (Pisum sativum L.): Oat pre-crop and traffic compaction effects in fine-textured mollisols.- 24. Soil compaction and soybean root growth.- 25. Fibrous carrot root responses to irrigation and compaction of sandy and organic soils.- 26. Tillage and phosphorus effects on silage corn.- 27. Root activity and acquisition of soil phosphorus and potassium.- 28. A study of the root systems of main crops in Northern China.- 29. Metabolic characteristics of growing and dormant Scotch pine roots in the course of tree development.- 30. Variation in fine-root biomass and net primary productivity due to conversion of tropical forests into plantation crops and agroecosystems.- 31. Managing VAM in a semi-arid agroecosystem.- 32. The role of endomycorrhizae in fine-root litter degradation.- 33. Evaluation of N2 fixing capability of Acacia saligna under field conditions.- SECTION IV: Ground Water Quality.- SECTION V: Genetics, Physiology and Molecular Biology.- SECTIONVI: Contemporary Methods for Measuring Root Dynamics.