Abstract:Three pot experiments were performed on cucumber, maize, soybean and wheat plants to investigate the effects of various substrate types, namely pumice, arenosol and chernozem soil (Exp. 1), of substrate salinity (Exp. 2) and of soil water content (SWC; Exp. 3) on the electrical capacitance measured in root-soil systems. The data were evaluated according to the basic principle of the two-dielectric capacitor model. Statistical analysis indicated that the capacitance measured in root-soil systems was determined … Show more
“…Variation in soil water content (SWC) has a marked effect on C R due to changes in soil-ground electrode contact (Ellis et al 2013) and in the root to soil conductance ratio (Gu et al 2021). A close positive relationship between C R and the SWC of the root zone was previously shown for several species (Cseresnyés et al 2018(Cseresnyés et al , 2020a. Using a species-specific exponential function, a saturation capacitance, C R * (which can be detected in watersaturated soil) was calculated from the measured C R and the corresponding SWC.…”
Background and aims
This study was the first to test the efficiency of monitoring root electrical capacitance (CR*) non-destructively in the field to evaluate crop development under different environmental conditions.
Methods
A free-air CO2 enrichment (FACE) experiment was performed with two winter wheat cultivars, two levels (low and high) of nitrogen supply and two (ambient and elevated) of [CO2] in three replicate plots over two years. The validity of CR* as a proxy for root uptake activity was confirmed by tracking the ceptometer-based leaf area index (LAI).
Results
Repeated CR* measurements clearly demonstrated the seasonal dynamics in root development, with a peak at flowering, and the delayed growth in the second year caused by the unfavourable meteorological conditions. From the vegetative to flowering stages, CR* was strongly correlated with LAI (R2: 0.897–0.962). The positive effect of higher N supply and elevated [CO2] on crop growth was clearly indicated by the higher CR* values, associated with increased LAI, shoot dry mass (SDM) at flowering and grain yield (GY). The maximum CR* was closely related to GY (R2: 0.805 and 0.867) when the data were pooled across the N and CO2 treatments and the years. Unlike CR* and GY, SDM and LAI were significantly lower in the second year, presumably due to the enhanced root/shoot ratio induced by a severe spring drought.
Conclusions
The present results convincingly demonstrated the potential of the in situ root capacitance method to assess root responses dynamically, and to predict crop GY.
“…Variation in soil water content (SWC) has a marked effect on C R due to changes in soil-ground electrode contact (Ellis et al 2013) and in the root to soil conductance ratio (Gu et al 2021). A close positive relationship between C R and the SWC of the root zone was previously shown for several species (Cseresnyés et al 2018(Cseresnyés et al , 2020a. Using a species-specific exponential function, a saturation capacitance, C R * (which can be detected in watersaturated soil) was calculated from the measured C R and the corresponding SWC.…”
Background and aims
This study was the first to test the efficiency of monitoring root electrical capacitance (CR*) non-destructively in the field to evaluate crop development under different environmental conditions.
Methods
A free-air CO2 enrichment (FACE) experiment was performed with two winter wheat cultivars, two levels (low and high) of nitrogen supply and two (ambient and elevated) of [CO2] in three replicate plots over two years. The validity of CR* as a proxy for root uptake activity was confirmed by tracking the ceptometer-based leaf area index (LAI).
Results
Repeated CR* measurements clearly demonstrated the seasonal dynamics in root development, with a peak at flowering, and the delayed growth in the second year caused by the unfavourable meteorological conditions. From the vegetative to flowering stages, CR* was strongly correlated with LAI (R2: 0.897–0.962). The positive effect of higher N supply and elevated [CO2] on crop growth was clearly indicated by the higher CR* values, associated with increased LAI, shoot dry mass (SDM) at flowering and grain yield (GY). The maximum CR* was closely related to GY (R2: 0.805 and 0.867) when the data were pooled across the N and CO2 treatments and the years. Unlike CR* and GY, SDM and LAI were significantly lower in the second year, presumably due to the enhanced root/shoot ratio induced by a severe spring drought.
Conclusions
The present results convincingly demonstrated the potential of the in situ root capacitance method to assess root responses dynamically, and to predict crop GY.
“…Variation in soil water content (SWC) has a marked effect on C R due to changes in soil-ground electrode contact (Ellis et al 2013) and in the root to soil conductance ratio (Gu et al 2021). A close positive relationship between C R and the SWC of the root zone was previously shown for several species (Cseresnyés et al 2018(Cseresnyés et al , 2020a. Using a species-speci c exponential function, a saturation capacitance, C R * (which can be detected in watersaturated soil) was calculated from the measured C R and the corresponding SWC.…”
Background and aims This study was the first to test the efficiency of monitoring root electrical capacitance (CR*) non-destructively in the field to evaluate crop development under different environmental conditions.Methods A free-air CO2 enrichment (FACE) experiment was performed with two winter wheat cultivars, two levels (low and high) of nitrogen supply and two (ambient and elevated) of [CO2] in three replicate plots over two years. The validity of CR* as a proxy for root uptake activity was confirmed by tracking the ceptometer-based leaf area index (LAI).Results Repeated CR* measurements clearly demonstrated the seasonal dynamics in root development, with a peak at flowering, and the delayed growth in the second year caused by the unfavourable meteorological conditions. From the vegetative to flowering stages, CR* was strongly correlated with LAI (R2: 0.897–0.962). The positive effect of higher N supply and elevated [CO2] on crop growth was clearly indicated by the higher CR* values, associated with increased LAI, shoot dry mass (SDM) at flowering and grain yield (GY). The maximum CR* was closely related to GY (R2: 0.805 and 0.867) when the data were pooled across the N and CO2 treatments and the years. Unlike CR* and GY, SDM and LAI were significantly lower in the second year, presumably due to the enhanced root/shoot ratio induced by a severe spring drought.Conclusions The present results convincingly demonstrated the potential of the in situ root capacitance method to assess root responses dynamically, and to predict crop GY.
“…This approach is now being applied to evaluate root responses to different alkalinity levels. In 2020, I Cseresnyes measured the root-soil system capacitors of cucumber, corn, soybean and wheat plants under different soil substrate components, different substrate salinity, and different water content at a single frequency [ 32 ]. The results show that the basement impedance and substrate salinity have negligible effects on the capacitance measured in the root-soil system.…”
Nondestructive testing of plant roots is a hot topic in recent years. The traditional measurement process is time-consuming and laborious, and it is impossible to analyze the state of plant roots without destroying the sample. Recent studies have shown that as an excellent nondestructive measurement method, although electrical impedance spectroscopy (EIS) has made great achievements in many botanical research fields such as plant morphology and stress resistance, there are still limitations. This review summarizes the application of EIS in plant root measurement. The experiment scheme, instrument and electrode, excitation frequency range, root electrical characteristics, equivalent circuit, and combination of EIS and artificial intelligence (AI) are discussed. Furthermore, the review suggests that future research should focus on miniaturization of measurement equipment, standardization of planting environment and intelligentization of root diagnosis, so as to better apply EIS technology to in situ root nondestructive measurement.
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