Summary
The objective of this experiment was to determine, by electrical analog, how oxygen movement to plant roots is affected by two variables: the depth of the plow layer (depth of tillage) and the depth of the roots in the plow layer. The analog was developed for a row crop that had a long, narrow, vertical sheet of roots. Oxygen moved from the cultivated soil surface to the sheet of roots. Plow-layer depth (depth of soil cultivated) was 20, 10, 5 or 2.5 cm. Depth of the root sheet was 20, 10, 5, 2.5, 1.25, 0.625, or 0cm. Dimensionless values for flow of oxygen were determined and compared to theoretical values.
Experimentally determined dimensionless flow values agreed with those determined theoretically, which showed that the model simulated expected values for oxygen transport. As the depth of the root sheet increased, movement of oxygen to the roots increased curvilinearly. Roots that penetrated only a small distance into the plow layer took up large amounts of oxygen. As the depth of the plow layer increased, oxygen movement to the root sheet increased. The results suggested that, for maximum flow of oxygen to the root sheet, a deep plow layer is more important than a deep root sheet.
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Kirkham, M.B. Soil-oxygen and plant-root interaction: An electrical analog study. Plant Soil 100, 11–19 (1987). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02370929
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02370929