Nutrient Acquisition by Plants

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. TOC:Soil factors affecting autrient 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.