Project Details
Projekt
Modelling root uptake processes in heterogeneous soils at the plant scale with a specific attention to biopores and rhizosphere impact on nutrient acquisition
Applicant
Professor Dr. Jan Vanderborght
Subject Area
Soil Sciences
Term
from 2011 to 2013
Project identifier
Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) - Project number 135946177
The pattern of plant nutrient uptake in a soil profile is the result of complex processes occurring at the cellular or sub-cellular levels but affecting the whole-plant behaviour in function of the plant environment that varies strongly in time and space. The plant nutrient acquisition depends on root architecture and growth, on soil properties and heterogeneity, and on the 3-D distribution of nutrients and water. Equally important is how these parameters interact, as for instance how the nutrient distribution and soil properties and heterogeneity impact root growth or how nutrient and water limitation affect assimilate allocation. Mathematical modelling using a spatial resolution that resolves the spatial structure of the root structure and the nutrient and water distribution is therefore needed to quantitatively account for these complex and interacting processes and to predict plant nutrient uptake behaviour under environmental constraints. The main goal of the project is to build a modelling platform able to describe 3-D flow and transport processes in the soil to individual roots of an entire root system (WP1). Model parameters will be derived from specific experiments performed at the plant scale in the research group (WP3) and stored in a specific data warehouse (WP2). The impact of different parameters, which describe root growth and nutrient uptake at the single root scale, on nutrient uptake at the soil profile scale, will be investigated based on scenario analyses (WP4). Data on water and nutrient uptake and root growth from plant and field scale experiments will be compared with model predictions to validate the model. Simulations with the 3-D root scale model will be used to validate hypotheses and parameterizations of larger scale 1-D models that do not describe processes at the scale of individual roots (WP5 and SP10).
DFG Programme
Research Units
Participating Persons
Professor Dr.-Ing. Mathieu Javaux, Ph.D.; Professor Dr. Harry Vereecken
