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Refining and unifying the upper limits of the least limiting water range using soil and plant properties

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Abstract

The least limiting water range (LLWR) was introduced as an integrated soil water content indicator, measuring the impact of mechanical impedance, oxygen and water availability on water uptake and crop growth. However, a rigorous definition of the upper limit of the LLWR using plant physiological and soil physical concepts was not given. We introduce in this study an upper limit of the LLWR, based on soil physical and plant physiological properties. We further evaluate the sensitivity of this boundary to different soil and crop variables, and compare the sensitivity of the upper limit of the LLWR to previous definitions of soil water content at field capacity. The current study confirms that the upper limit of the LLWR can be predicted from knowledge of the soil moisture characteristic curve, plant root depth and oxygen consumption rate. The sensitivity analysis shows further that the upper limit of the LLWR approaches the volumetric soil water content at saturation when the oxygen consumption rate by plants becomes less than 2 µmol m−3 s−1. When plants are susceptible to aeration (e.g. potato and avocado), there is a big difference between the upper limit of the LLWR and the soil water content at field capacity, in particular for sandy soils. Results also show that the soil water content at aeration porosity corresponding to 10% cannot be considered as an appropriate upper limit of LLWR because it does not appropriately reflect the crop water requirements. Similar poor results are obtained when considering the soil water content at matric potential −0.033 MPa or when defining the soil water content at field capacity based on drainage flux rate. It is observed that the upper limit of the LLWR is higher than either soil water content at −0.033 MPa matric potential or soil water content at field capacity as based on drainage flux rate, especially in sandy soils.

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Abbreviations

LLWR:

Least limiting water range

FC:

Field capacity

PSD:

Pore size distribution

SMC:

Soil moisture characteristic curve

PWP:

Permanent wilting point

UNSODA:

Unsaturated soil database

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Acknowledgement

The grant from center excellence of soil quality improvement for balanced plant nutrition, University of Tehran (Research no 85/10/24) is gratefully acknowledged by the authors.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Soil Science, Faculty of Agriculture, University of Zanjan, Zanjan, Iran

    Mohammad Hossein Mohammadi

  2. Department of Soil Science, College of Agriculture, University of Tehran, Karaj, Iran

    Farrokh Asadzadeh

  3. Earth and Life Institute, Université catholique de Louvain (UCL), Croix du Sud, 2 Bte 2, 1348, Louvain-la-Neuve, Belgium

    Marnik Vanclooster

Authors
  1. Mohammad Hossein Mohammadi
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  2. Farrokh Asadzadeh
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  3. Marnik Vanclooster
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Mohammad Hossein Mohammadi.

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Responsible Editor: Peter J. Gregory.

Appendix 1

Appendix 1

Table 4 Hydraulic characteristics of 54 soils of UNSODA database used in explanation and testing of defined upper limit of water uptake regarding the soil and plant properties
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Mohammadi, M.H., Asadzadeh, F. & Vanclooster, M. Refining and unifying the upper limits of the least limiting water range using soil and plant properties. Plant Soil 334, 221–234 (2010). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11104-010-0377-3

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