Some thermodynamic aspects of the use of soil‐moisture by plants

Abstract

In studying the literature on the use of soil‐moisture by plants, one realizes that the language of the soil scientist is not the language of the plant physiologist.Those interested in soils discuss soil‐moisture in a language composed, on the one hand, of names given to the results of tests made on soils by some arbitrary measurement (for example, the moisture‐equivalent, the hygroscopic coefficient, and the maximum capillary capacity) and, on the other hand, of terms perhaps more elemental or basic, such as capillary potential, pressure‐ potential, transmission‐function, and vapor‐pressure. Both types of terms describe the state of the moisture under given conditions and have been useful in developing our knowledge of soil‐moisture.