Plant nutrition element

Common oil and coal combustions add pollution to the atmosphere. Sulphuric acid is a main factor in acid precipitation. Both industrial production and ordinary consumption are responsible for this t)q)e of pollution. In addition to sulphuric acid we also find some nitric acid in the precipitation. Both sulphur and nitrogen are vital plant nutrition elements. As a rule the plants will find sulphur enough in the soil but lack sufficient nitrogen sources. Many other elements are included in the incinerating gases. 

Justus von Liebig (1842) spread the knowledge that potassium is one of the important plant nutrition elements. In 1861, Adolph frank started the first plant using the process he had developed for producing from carnallite - a potassium salt that could be employed as a fertilizer. When Alsace was returned to franco at the end of World War I, the potash works become French property, so that Germany lost her monopoly in potash. Potash production in Spain began in 1926 in Catalonia. In Sicily (Italy) kainite deposits were used for potassium sulfate production. In Russia, potassium production began 1931 in the northern Urals. In 1939, the Soviet Union took over potassium... 

Calcium. Soil minerals are a main source of calcium for plants, thus nutrient deficiency of this element in plants is rare. Calcium, in the form of pulverized limestone [1317-65-3] or dolomite [17069-72-6] frequendy is appHed to acidic soils to counteract the acidity and thus improve crop growth. Such liming incidentally ensures an adequate supply of available calcium for plant nutrition. Although pH correction is important for agriculture, and liming agents often are sold by fertilizer distributors, this function is not one of fertilizer manufacture. 

In the control area, Lombador, the phosphorus, an essential element in plants nutrition, presents, in the relationsoil-plant, a different behavior from the other areas. This can be related to the substratum rock in the Lombador area which is composed of metassediments (turbidites) and are not included in Volcano Sedimentary Complex as the other areas where mining works have occurred. 

This element is essential for plant nutrition and plant molybdenum requirements are species-dependent. A standard official method has been published for the determination of molybdenum in plant material [45,46]. 

A beneficial effect of humic substances on the nutrient uptake and contents of plants has been reported for the major inorganic elements, such as nitrogen, phosphorus, potassium (Mylonas and McCants, 1980), and sulfur (Guminski, 1968). In addition, the uptake and contents of nutrients such as calcium, magnesium (Mylonas and McCants, 1980), sodium (Vaughan and McDonald, 1976) and copper (Rauthan and Schnitzer, 1981) are also enhanced by humic substances. Most of these reports on the effects of HS on the nutrient contents of plants are purely descriptive, and little attempt has been made to elucidate the mechanisms of the action of the humic material. The authors proposed both an indirect and a direct effect of HS on plant nutrition. In the former case HS may, for example, chelate a cation, thus changing... 

Sodium is an essential element and additions of sodium chloride to soils can provide increased yields of some plants. There is some degree of overlap in the roles of sodium and potassium in plant nutrition. Both Na and Rb are beneficial in K-deficiency. 

Zinc is easily taken up by plants from the soil where it accumulates in the shoots. It is an essential element for plant nutrition (Marschner, 1986) and is important in both carbohydrate metabolism and protein synthesis. 

Aqua regia extraction is a strong partial extraction method that dissolves carbonates, most sulphide minerals, some silicates like olivine and trioctahedral micas, clay minerals and primary and secondary salts and hydroxides (Salminen, 1995). It can be considered a quasi-total extraction method, since actual total concentrations can be higher. On the other hand, this leaching method overestimates the bioavailable amount of toxic elements in a soil since metals trapped in the silicate lattice are released very slowly in the environment and are not easily involved in plant nutrition processes. 

Suzuki, H., Kumagai, H., Oohashi, K. et al. (2001). Transport of trace elements through the hyphae of an arbuscular mycorrhizal fungus into marigold determined by the multitracer technique. Soil Science and Plant Nutrition, 47, 131-7. 

Once a basic understanding of plant nutrition was reached, there arose among the scientists an interest in the relationship between atmospherical chemistry and soil chemistry. At the very early stages attention was focused on nitrogen. This element had often proved to be a minimum factor — to use Liebig s term (Liebig, 1840). 

Sulfur has been recognized since the mid-1800 s as an essential element in plant nutrition, crop requirements being similar to P needs. Sulfur is also used as a soil amendment in the reclamation of saline and alkali soils. 

The essential nutrients need to be maintained at an optimum level for each element. Any excess can cause damage to the plants due to toxic reactions which impair growth. Similarly, deficiency of any of these nutrients will adversely affect the growth of the plant and the crop yield. Therefore, adequate knowledge about plant nutrition for the crop is essential for achieving best results. Table 5.4 lists some of the likely symptoms related to nutrient deficiency in sunflower (National Sunflower Association 2001c). 

Table 1.1 shows representative contents of important elements in soils. Soil contents vary and the values in Table 1.1 are averages. The composition of plants is less variable, partly because soil development tends to narrow the range of element availability compared to the range of the elemental composition of rocks. The soil is an O-Si-Al-Fe matrix containing relatively small amounts of the essential elements. The matrix is virtually inert in terms of plant nutrition, but the small amounts of ions held by that matrix are vital. 

The foundation of modern fertilizer technology was laid by Justus von Liebig in 1840. He postulated that the mineral elements nitrogen, phosphorus, and potassium (N, P, and K) in the soil are responsible for plant nutrition and stressed the necessity of replacing those elements to maintain soil fertility. 

In plant nutritional science it is usual to regard also N, C, H, and O as essential elements, and to characterize the entire group as macronutrient elements (see Table 2.2). N, Ca, K, Mg, P, and S represent in this context the subgroup mineral macronutrient elements. Additionally, in plants the degree of essentiality (Table 2.1) is a more precisely considered criterion than in animals and humans (see below). This facilitates consideration of the major metabolic differences between many species. 

Bollard E (1983) Involvement of unusual elements in plant growth and nutrition. In Lauchli A and Bieleski RL, eds.. Inorganic plant nutrition. In Encyclopedia of Plant Physiology, New Series, Vol. 15 B, pp. 695-755. Springer Verlag, Berlin-Heidelberg-New York-Tokyo. 

Grun M, Podlesak W, Falke H, Wiiter B and Krause O (1989) Importance of molybdenum in plant nutrition. In Anke M, Baumann W, Braunlicb H, Bruckner C, Groppel B and Griin M, eds. Proceedings of fbe 6fb International Trace Element Symposium. Molybdenum, Vanadium 1, pp. 159-175, University of Leipzig and Jena, Germany. 

Vanadium acts as a partial substitute for molybdenum in catalyzing nitrogen fixation by Azotobacter and probably other organisms. It is an essential element for the green alga Scenedesmus but there is no proof that it is essential for higher green plants. Its role, if any, in plant nutrition is unknown. 

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