Sugar beet root growth under different watering regimes: a minirhizotron study
The yield of sugar beet is often reduced by drought stress and it has previously been shown that water uptake, especially from deeper layers of the soil profile, may be limited by inadequate total root length. Experiments were conducted to assess root growth at different depths in response to specif...
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| Format: | Article |
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Elsevier
2018
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| Online Access: | https://eprints.nottingham.ac.uk/52805/ |
| _version_ | 1848798814180212736 |
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| author | Fitters, Tamara F.J. Mooney, Sacha J. Sparkes, Debbie L. |
| author_facet | Fitters, Tamara F.J. Mooney, Sacha J. Sparkes, Debbie L. |
| author_sort | Fitters, Tamara F.J. |
| building | Nottingham Research Data Repository |
| collection | Online Access |
| description | The yield of sugar beet is often reduced by drought stress and it has previously been shown that water uptake, especially from deeper layers of the soil profile, may be limited by inadequate total root length. Experiments were conducted to assess root growth at different depths in response to specific watering regimes. Sugar beet plants were grown in wooden boxes (2.16 m2 × 1.2 m) in a polytunnel in two consecutive years. Minirhizotrons allowed regular monitoring of root growth at five different depths. Only when water in the upper soil layers had been depleted, did roots start proliferating in deeper soil layers. This development of the root system architecture, together with a lag between roots arriving at depth and actively taking up water, led to a delay in water being extracted from those deeper layers. During the period when roots were proliferating at depth, stomatal conductance reduced, indicating that the plants were suffering from water stress despite there still being water available. Even though new soil layers with high water availability were explored the stomatal conductance did not recover. |
| first_indexed | 2025-11-14T20:25:45Z |
| format | Article |
| id | nottingham-52805 |
| institution | University of Nottingham Malaysia Campus |
| institution_category | Local University |
| last_indexed | 2025-11-14T20:25:45Z |
| publishDate | 2018 |
| publisher | Elsevier |
| recordtype | eprints |
| repository_type | Digital Repository |
| spelling | nottingham-528052020-05-04T19:49:53Z https://eprints.nottingham.ac.uk/52805/ Sugar beet root growth under different watering regimes: a minirhizotron study Fitters, Tamara F.J. Mooney, Sacha J. Sparkes, Debbie L. The yield of sugar beet is often reduced by drought stress and it has previously been shown that water uptake, especially from deeper layers of the soil profile, may be limited by inadequate total root length. Experiments were conducted to assess root growth at different depths in response to specific watering regimes. Sugar beet plants were grown in wooden boxes (2.16 m2 × 1.2 m) in a polytunnel in two consecutive years. Minirhizotrons allowed regular monitoring of root growth at five different depths. Only when water in the upper soil layers had been depleted, did roots start proliferating in deeper soil layers. This development of the root system architecture, together with a lag between roots arriving at depth and actively taking up water, led to a delay in water being extracted from those deeper layers. During the period when roots were proliferating at depth, stomatal conductance reduced, indicating that the plants were suffering from water stress despite there still being water available. Even though new soil layers with high water availability were explored the stomatal conductance did not recover. Elsevier 2018-11-01 Article PeerReviewed Fitters, Tamara F.J., Mooney, Sacha J. and Sparkes, Debbie L. (2018) Sugar beet root growth under different watering regimes: a minirhizotron study. Environmental and Experimental Botany, 155 . pp. 79-86. ISSN 0098-8472 Water uptake drought stomatal conductance root plasticity https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0098847218304623?via%3Dihub doi:10.1016/j.envexpbot.2018.06.023 doi:10.1016/j.envexpbot.2018.06.023 |
| spellingShingle | Water uptake drought stomatal conductance root plasticity Fitters, Tamara F.J. Mooney, Sacha J. Sparkes, Debbie L. Sugar beet root growth under different watering regimes: a minirhizotron study |
| title | Sugar beet root growth under different watering regimes: a minirhizotron study |
| title_full | Sugar beet root growth under different watering regimes: a minirhizotron study |
| title_fullStr | Sugar beet root growth under different watering regimes: a minirhizotron study |
| title_full_unstemmed | Sugar beet root growth under different watering regimes: a minirhizotron study |
| title_short | Sugar beet root growth under different watering regimes: a minirhizotron study |
| title_sort | sugar beet root growth under different watering regimes: a minirhizotron study |
| topic | Water uptake drought stomatal conductance root plasticity |
| url | https://eprints.nottingham.ac.uk/52805/ https://eprints.nottingham.ac.uk/52805/ https://eprints.nottingham.ac.uk/52805/ |