Principles of Soil and Plant Water Relations

M. B. Kirkham is a Professor in the Department of Agronomy at Kansas State University. Her research involves two areas: soil-plant-water relations and uptake of heavy metals by crops grown on polluted soil (called “phytoremediation”). Dr. Kirkham is currently collaborating with colleagues at the Kansas State University Northwest Research-Extension Center in Colby, Kansas to study yield and water relations of sorghum grown under the semi-arid conditions of far western Kansas. Dr. Kirkham serves on several editorial boards: Soil Science; Journal of Crop Improvement; International Agrophysics; Crop Science; Australian Journal of Soil Research; Agriculture, Ecosystems and Environment; Agricultural Water Management; Pakistan Journal of Agricultural Research; Agricultural, Food and Analytical Bacteriology; and Journal of the American Society for Horticultural Science. In addition, Dr. Kirkham has received the CSSA Crop Science Research Award and the 2010-11 Iman Outstanding Faculty Award for Research.

IntroductionDefinitions of Physical Units and the International SystemStructure and Properties of WaterTensiometersTerminologyStatic Water in SoilWater Movement in Saturated SoilField Capacity, Permanent Wilting, Available Water, and the Non-Limiting Water RangePenetrometer MeasurementsMeasurement of Oxygen Diffusion RateInfiltrationPore VolumeMeasurement of Soil Water Content using Time Domain ReflectometryRoot Anatomy and Poiseuille’s LawWater Movement to Plant Roots and Gardner’s EquationMeasurement of Water Potential with Thermocouple PsychrometersMeasurement of Water Potential with Pressure Chambers Stem Anatomy and Measurement of Osmotic Potential and Turgor PotentialCohesion TheoryElectrical AnaloguesLeaf Anatomy and ElasticityStomatal Anatomy and Stomatal ResistanceSolar Radiation and Black BodiesMeasurement of Canopy Temperature with Infrared ThermometersCrop-Water-Stress IndexPotential EvapotranspirationWater and Yield