Visualizing interactions between soil structure and plant physiological processes

Information about the seminar

Soil structure and associated soil physical properties such as soil penetration resistance and soil aeration strongly influence how fast and at what metabolic cost plants can reach water and nutrients in soil.

Root growth and water uptake modify soil structure through bioturbation, input of organic matter, and crack formation through soil drying. Although the importance of soil structure for crop productivity has been recognized, the interactions between soil structure and plant physiological processes and their implications for ecosystem functioning are still poorly understood.

Image-assisted approaches such as X-ray computed tomography and time-lapse imaging open up new possibilities for quantifying those interactions. Such visualizations can help to understand effects of soil structure on plant growth and crop productivity as well as the contribution of plants to soil structure dynamics.

Moreover, root traits can be identified that increase the tolerance of plants to soil physical stress and thereby may improve crop productivity on soils with poor structure.