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Updated: Oct 7, 2026

Two-Dimensional Visualization and Quantification of Labile, Inorganic Plant Nutrients and Contaminants in Soil
Published on: September 1, 2020
A mathematical model of plant nutrient uptake
T Roose1, A C Fowler, P R Darrah
1Mathematical Institute, University of Oxford, 24-29 St. Giles', Oxford OX1 3LB, UK.
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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