Rahul Datta

By Aleš Kučera, Pavel Samec, Aleš Bajer, Keith Ronald Skene, Tomáš Vichta, Valerie Vranová, Ram Swaroop Meena and Rahul Datta

Forests play an irreplaceable role in linking the water cycle with the functions of soil. Soil water not only enhances the stability of forests, but also its run-off and evaporation affects the growth of plants in different ecosystems. The forest soil water balance is contextualized within the immediate and more global landscapes, in terms of relations of water to the soil environment and bedrock, participation in the local water cycle within a catchment basin and in the global cycle between ecosystems. Modifications by human civilization can have significant impacts, including erosion intensification, eutrophication, salinization, spreading of single-species plantations, and regime shifts. Forests regulate the movement of water in the soil environment by reducing the intensity of run-off. Such moderated run-off prevents the occurrence of flash floods, maintaining continuous availability of water for plant and human use. Participation of soil water in the cycling of elements in forests is modified by soil organic matter balance. The preservation of hydric functions in forest soils depends on prioritization of water balance restoration in every catchment basin enclosing the local element cycle. More fundamentally, the development of a synergistically interlinked system, centered around the soil-forest-water-civilization nexus, must become an urgent priority.

Part of the book: Soil Moisture Importance

By Fuchun Xie, Rahul Datta and Dong Qin

Perennial ryegrass (Lolium perenne L.) is a popular and important cool-season turfgrass used in parks, landscapes, sports fields, and golf courses, and it has significant ecological, environmental, and economic values. It is also widely used as forage and pasture grass for animals around the world. However, the growth of perennial ryegrass is often affected by various abiotic stresses, which cause declines in turf quality and forage production. Among abiotic stresses, drought, salinity, temperature, and heavy metal are the most detrimental factors for perennial ryegrass growth in different regions, which result in growth inhibition, cell structure damage, and metabolic dysfunction. Many researches have revealed a lot useful information for understanding the mechanism of tolerance to adverse stresses at morphophysiological level. In this chapter, we will give a systematic literature review about morphological and physiological changes of perennial ryegrass in response to main stress factors and provide detail aspects of improving perennial ryegrass resistance based on research progress. Understanding morphophysiological response in perennial ryegrass under stress will contribute to improving further insights on fundamental mechanisms of perennial ryegrass stress tolerance and providing valuable information for breeding resistance cultivars of perennial ryegrass.

Part of the book: Abiotic Stress in Plants

By Tahsina Sharmin Hoque, Deepranjan Sarkar, Rahul Datta, Mohammad Golam Kibria, Rafi Ullah, Nazeer Ahmed, Mohammad Anwar Hossain, Asim Masood and Naser A. Anjum

Phosphorus (P) is an essential macronutrient for plant growth and development. Although the P-concentration in soil is 1000 folds higher than in plants, it is rarely available for plant uptake due to low diffusion and high fixation rate in soil. Hence, plants experience P-deficiency in the absence of P-fertilization, which may cause approximately a 30–40% decrease in crop yield. This highlights the importance of using a large amount of phosphate fertilizers to meet crop demands. As P-fertilizer is derived from a nonrenewable and finite source of rock phosphate, this resource is decreasing over time. In addition, farmers are applying P-fertilizers randomly without considering the soil stock, which leads to the loss of P-resources. The low P-use-efficiency (PUE) of plants in the field condition (15–20%) highlights that most of the soil-applied P remains unavailable to plants, and excess P causes ground and surface water contamination (i.e., eutrophication) through leaching and runoff, which ultimately results in environmental pollution. Therefore, it is crucial to apply P-fertilizers considering the soil test value and PUE to protect the environment from contamination and sustainable management of P-resources. This chapter mainly focuses on the sustainable management of P in agricultural fields for environmental conservation.

Part of the book: Phosphorus in Soils and Plants