The plant root system traverses one of the most complex environments on earth.
Understanding how roots support plant life on land requires knowing how soil properties …

Abstract Models of root system growth emerged in the early 1970s, and were based on
mathematical representations of root length distribution in soil. The last decade has seen the …

Background Plants form the base of the terrestrial food chain and provide medicines, fuel,
fibre and industrial materials to humans. Vascular land plants rely on their roots to acquire …

The potential exists to breed for root system architectures that optimize resource acquisition.
However, this requires the ability to screen root system development quantitatively, with high …

This paper presents a time-lapse application of electrical methods (electrical resistivity
tomography, ERT; and mise-à-la-masse, MALM) for monitoring plant roots and their activity …

Abstract Background and Aims Root traits can be selected for crop improvement.
Techniques such as soil excavations can be used to screen root traits in the field, but are …

Large variation in tree root architecture and morphology has been reported for temperate
forest communities. However, it is not clear whether this variation represents adaptation of …

The investigation of plant roots is inherently difficult and often neglected. Being out of sight,
roots are often out of mind. Nevertheless, roots play a key role in the exchange of mass and …

Tree rooting strategies are driven by external and internal factors such as climate conditions
(rain frequency, wind direction), soil structure and crop type. In order to ensure water …

Abstract Soybean [Glycine max (L.) Merr.] breeders and geneticists routinely evaluate
thousands of plots per year in order to characterize various accessions and breeding …