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Published online 20 November 2006
Published in Vadose Zone J 5:1264-1277 (2006)
DOI: 10.2136/vzj2006.0056
© 2006 Soil Science Society of America
677 S. Segoe Rd., Madison, WI 53711 USA
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ORIGINAL RESEARCH

Root Water Extraction and Limiting Soil Hydraulic Conditions Estimated by Numerical Simulation

Quirijn de Jong van Liera,*, Klaas Metselaarb and Jos C. van Damb

a Exact Sciences Dep., Esalq-Univ. of São Paulo, 13418-900 Piracicaba (SP), Brazil, currently at Dep. of Environmental Sciences, Wageningen Univ., Wageningen, the Netherlands
b Dep. of Environmental Sciences, Wageningen Univ., Nieuwe Kanaal 11, 6709 PA Wageningen, the Netherlands
* Corresponding author (qdjvlier{at}esalq.usp.br)

Received 13 April 2006.

Root density, soil hydraulic functions, and hydraulic head gradients play an important role in the determination of transpiration-rate-limiting soil water contents. We developed an implicit numerical root water extraction model to solve the Richards equation for the modeling of radial root water extraction. The average soil water content at the moment root water potential dropped below a defined critical value was then estimated. The dependence of average water content at the onset of plant water stress on potential transpiration and root density was compared with an analytical solution for hydraulic conditions in the root sphere. The critical value was a function of potential transpiration rate, soil hydraulic properties, and root density. Matric flux potential appears to be a convenient hydraulic property to determine the onset of limiting hydraulic conditions, as numerical simulations showed that, at onset, matric flux potential vs. distance from the root surface is independent of soil type. This was also determined analytically under the constant-rate assumption. Mean water content occurs at about 0.53 times the half-distance between roots. This allows calculation of the mean limiting soil water content and pressure head from the matric flux potential at this distance, which is a function of transpiration rate and root density only. A nomogram was developed that—given the transpiration rate, the root density, and the soil hydraulic functions—allows determination of the values of mean water content and mean pressure head that occur at the onset of transpiration reduction.




This article has been cited by other articles:


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Q. de Jong van Lier, J.C. van Dam, and K. Metselaar
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T. Schroder, M. Javaux, J. Vanderborght, and H. Vereecken
Comment on "Root Water Extraction and Limiting Soil Hydraulic Conditions Estimated by Numerical Simulation"
Vadose Zone J., August 1, 2007; 6(3): 524 - 526.
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