7 research outputs found
Simultaneous monitoring of electrical capacitance and water uptake activity of plant root system
Pot experiments were designed to test the applicability
of root electrical capacitance measurement for in situ monitoring of root water uptake activity by growing cucumber and bean cultivars in a growth chamber. Half of the plants were inoculated with Funneliformis mosseae arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi, while the other half served as non-infected controls. Root electrical capacitance and daily transpiration were monitored during
the whole plant ontogeny. Phenology-dependent changes of daily transpiration (related to root water uptake) and root electrical
capacitance proved to be similar as they showed upward trends from seedling emergence to the beginning of flowering stage, and thereafter decreased continuously during fruit setting. A few days after arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi-colonization, daily transpiration
and root electrical capacitance of infected plants became significantly higher than those of non-infected counterparts, and the relative increment of the measured parameters was greater for the more highly mycorrhizal-dependent bean cultivar compared to that of cucumber. Arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi colonization caused 29 and 69% relative increment in shoot dry mass for cucumbers
and beans, respectively. Mycorrhization resulted in 37%
increase in root dry mass for beans, but no significant difference was observed for cucumbers. Results indicate the potential of root electrical capacitance measurements for monitoring the changes and differences of root water uptake rate
Floating o\u27er the waters of the still lagoon, [first line of chorus]
Performance Medium: Piano and Voice (with lyrics
Prediction of wheat grain yield by measuring root electrical capacitance at anthesis
This methodological study evaluated the efficiency
of predicting aboveground biomass and grain yield in fieldgrown
winter wheat by measuring the saturation root electrical
capacitance at anthesis. Three cultivars were grown over a threeyear
period as sole crops and intercropped with winter pea
at halved wheat density. The root capacitance readings were
converted into saturation root electrical capacitance using the
relevant soil water content, according to an empirical function.
At plant scale, saturation root electrical capacitance at anthesis
showed a significant (p < 0.001) linear regression with the total
aboveground biomass (R2: 0.653-0.765) and grain yield (R2:
0.585-0.686) at maturity for each cultivar. At stand scale, both the
mean saturation root electrical capacitance and shoot dry mass at
anthesis and grain yield varied over the years, and were consistently
higher for the intercrops compared to the sole crops. The
relative increase in saturation root electrical capacitance due to
intercropping corresponded with the changes in shoot dry mass
and grain yield, especially in dry years. Saturation root electrical
capacitance was significantly correlated with shoot dry mass (R2:
0.714-0.899) and grain yield (R2: 0.742-0.877) for each cultivar
across all cropping systems and years. In conclusion, by mitigating
the soil water content effect, the measurement of saturation
root electrical capacitance at anthesis is adequate to forecast grain
yield and cultivar response to a changing environment