Claim · model-written summary
Root resistance can cause aboveground water deficits even in moist soil.
Not reportedTaxonMaterialGeneCompoundOrgan / stageInteractorInteractor roleSecond interactorSecond interactor roleTreatmentComparatorSettingDirectionValue
Verbatim
e0“The root system provides a considerable resistance to water flow through it. This resistance is important because it influences the water deficits which can build up in the above-ground parts of the plant even when the roots are in moist soil.”
Title
Water movement through root systems
E. I. Newman Philosophical transactions of the Royal Society of London. Series B, Biological sciences 1976. doi:10.1098/rstb.1976.0025
Other claims from this paper (6)
- Observation Root permeability per surface area varies among species and root parts.
- Mechanism Root permeability is sensitive to temperature, oxygen and salinity, suggesting living tissue contributes much of radial flow resistance.
- Observation Calculations based on maize roots predict the symplasm as the most likely radial water pathway.
- Mechanism The free-space/endodermis route is unlikely because cell wall material has low permeability.
- Observation Experimental evidence also favors the symplasm pathway.
- Observation Xylem longitudinal flow usually offers much less resistance than radial flow.