Functional Relationship In The Soil Plant Atmosphere Continuum

This textbook presents the concepts and processes involved in the soil-plant-atmosphere system as well as its applications in the water cycle in agriculture. Although reaching the frontier of our knowledge in several subjects, each chapter starts at the graduation level and proceeds to the post-doctoral level. Its more complicated subjects, as math and physics, are well explained, even to readers not well acquainted with these tools. Therefore, it helps students read, understand, and developing their thoughts on these subjects. Instructors also find it an easy book with the needed depth to be adopted in courses related to Soil Physics, Agricultural Management, Environmental Protection, Irrigation and Agrometeorology. It serves also as “lexicon” to engineers and lawyers involved in agricultural, environmental cases.

Summary: "The parameters used to describe the flow of water, and energy to a lesser extent, through the soil-plant-atmosphere continuum are reviewed and the techniques used for estimating their values contrasted. The measurements which are necessary to satisfy various research objectives are discussed. The appropriate methods of measurement are suggested for given circumstances and the key references for each method presented." -- p. iv.

In this small book I have tried to confine myself to the absolute necessities in a field which requires a knowledge of both biology and physics. It is meant as a primer for biological undergraduates. I hope it will lead some of them to further, more advanced, study. It has not been easy to present the subject in so few pages, and I am aware of many omissions. I hope readers will agree that it is best to concentrate on a small number of topics, which together constitute an essay on plant-atmosphere relationships. Advanced students will be able to take the subject further if they look up some of the references. Text books that I particularly recommend are those by Monteith [38] and Campbell [lOO]. If the reader intends to carry out research investigations he should also consult Fritschen and Lloyd [105] for an introduction to instrumentation in environmental biophysics.

Principles of Soil and Plant Water Relations combines biology and physics to show how water moves through the soil-plant-atmosphere continuum. This text explores the instrumentation and the methods used to measure the status of water in soil and plants. Principles are clearly presented with the aid of diagrams, anatomical figures, and images of instrumentation. The methods on instrumentation can be used by researchers, consultants, and the military to monitor soil degradation, including measurements of soil compaction, repellency, oxygen diffusion rate, and unsaturated hydraulic conductivity. Intended for graduate students in plant and soil science programs, this book also serves as a useful reference for agronomists, plant ecologists, and agricultural engineers. * Principles are presented in an easy-to-understand style * Heavily illustrated with more than 200 figures; diagrams are professionally drawn * Anatomical figures show root, stem, leaf, and stomata * Figures of instruments show how they work * Book is carefully referenced, giving sources for all information * Struggles and accomplishments of scientists who developed the theories are given in short biographies.