Published literature is re-examined in an attempt to understand the influence of the spatial distribution of soil nitrate on N uptake in order to devise a simple method for estimating the depth to which nitrate must be leached before it becomes unavailable to the crop. The evidence suggests that most crops can continue normal growth with less than 15% of their roots exposed to nitrate.A simple model of nitrate uptake is constructed in which nitrate is assumed to be totally available above a set depth and totally unavailable below it. This effective rooting depth is assumed to coincide with the depth at which uptake per unit length of root declines to half of the maximum rate. Estimates of effective rooting depth have been made from root distribution data for various vegetable crops grown at Wellesbourne and cereal crops at Rothamsted. The results were found to fit a simple regression equation which can be used to calculate effective rooting depths at any stage of growth from the dry weight and population density of the crop and the mean cross-sectional area of its roots. This equation is used in the succeeding papers to estimate the effects of leaching on the N fertilizer needs of crops.

A model is described for predicting the movement of soluble unadsorbed anions (such as nitrate or chloride) in fallow freely drained soil under field conditions. The model includes routines for estimating both the downward leaching of salts (after excess rainfall or irrigation) and the capillary movement of anions to the soil surface (after evaporation). The profile is divided into layers each of which is characterized by a maximum and minimum water content (the field capacity and evaporation limit respectively). Daily amounts of rainfall and evaporation are applied to the surface and the redistribution of water and salts is calculated (on a layer-to-layer basis) from the initial water and salt contents of each layer by adding or subtracting water to or from the moisture content until the stated maximum or minimum value is reached. Salt transfer is calculated from the amount af water movement on a proportional basis. The predictions of the model have been tested using field data for the redistribution of nitrate and chloride in a sandy loam soil. Good agreement was obtained for chloride, but the results for nitrate showed some deviations probably due to the effects of denitrification.

Relationships between nitrogen (N) content and growth are routinely measured in plants. This study determined the effects of N on the separate morphological and physiological components of plant growth, to assess how Nlimited growth is effected through these components. Lettuce (Lactuca sativa) plants were grown hydroponically under contrasting N-supply regimes, with the external N supply either maintained continuously throughout the period of study, or withdrawn for up to 14 d. Richards' growth functions, selected using an objective curve-fitting technique, accounted for 99n0 and 99n1% of the variation in plant dry weight for control and N-limited plants respectively. Sublinear relationships occurred between N and relative growth rates under restricted N-supply conditions, consistent with previous observations. There were effects of treatment on morphological and physiological components of growth. Leaf weight ratio increased over time in control plants and decreased in Nlimited plants. Shoot : root ratio followed a similar pattern. On a whole-plant basis, assimilation of carbon decreased in N-limited plants, a response paralleled by differences in stomatal conductance between treatments. Changes in C assimilation, expressed as a function of stomatal conductance to water vapour, suggest that the effects of N limitation on growth did not result directly from a lack of photosynthetic enzymes. Relationships between plant N content and components of growth will depend on the availability of different N pools for remobilization and use within the plant.

The fraction (/) of surface-applied nitrate leached below any depth h cm in a uniform soil profile may be calculated from the equation ,/100)/ where P is the quantity of water draining through the soil (in cm) and V m is the percentage volumetric field capacity. The fraction of nitrate retained is then (1-/). This equation has been tested using published data. Values of h corresponding to the mean displacement (/ = 0-5) were calculated for a wide range of soil and weather conditions and the results compared with mean displacements measured in the field. Similar comparisons were made with the leaching equation of Rousselle (1913) and Levin (1964). The new equation gives good agreement with the observed data, whereas the Rousselle-Levin equation generally overestimates the mean displacement of nitrate. Methods of applying the equations to field situations are discussed.

This paper investigates the effects of uptake of nitrate and the availability of internal N reserves on growth rate in times of restricted supply, and examines the extent to which the response is mediated by the different pools of N (nitrate N, organic N and total N) in the plant. Hydroponic experiments were carried out with young lettuce plants (Lactuca sativa L.) to compare responses to either an interruption in external N supply or the imposition of different relative N addition rate (RAR) treatments. The resulting relationships between whole plant relative growth rate (RGR) and N concentration varied between linear and curvilinear (or possibly bi-linear) forms depending on the treatment conditions. The relationship was curvilinear when the external N supply was interrupted, but linear when N was supplied by either RAR methods or as a supra-optimal external N supply. These differences resulted from the ability of the plant to use external sources of N more readily than their internal N reserves. These results show that when sub-optimal sources of external N were available, RGR was maintained at a rate which was dependent on the rate of nitrate uptake by the roots. Newly acquired N was channelled directly to the sites of highest demand, where it was assimilated rapidly. As a result, nitrate only tended to accumulate in plant tissues when its supply was essentially adequate. By comparison, plants forced to rely solely on their internal reserves were never able to mobilize and redistribute N between tissues quickly enough to prevent reductions in growth rate as their tissue N reserves declined. Evidence is presented to show that the rate of remobilization of N depends on the size and type of the N pools within the plant, and that changes in their rates of remobilization and/or transfer between pools are the main factors influencing the form of the relationship between RGR and N concentration.