Abstract.
The classical model of plant root nutrient uptake due to Nye, Tinker and Barber is developed and extended. We provide an explicit closed formula for the uptake by a single cylindrical root for all cases of practical interest by solving the absorption-diffusion equation for the soil nutrient concentration asymptotically in the limit of large time. We then use this single root model as a building block to construct a model which allows for root size distribution in a more realistic plant root system, and we include the effects of root branching and growth. The results are compared with previous theoretical and experimental studies.
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Received: 1 September 1999 / Revised version: 2 November 2000 /¶Published online: 16 March 2001
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Roose, T., Fowler, A. & Darrah, P. A mathematical model of plant nutrient uptake. J Math Biol 42, 347–360 (2001). https://doi.org/10.1007/s002850000075
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s002850000075