Nutrient Flux
Nutrient Flux - Related Videos
13:14
Measuring Fluxes of Mineral Nutrients and Toxicants in Plants with Radioactive Tracers
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Cited by 9 •
2014
In planta measurement of nutrient and toxicant fluxes is essential to the study of plant nutrition and toxicity. Here, we cover radiotracer protocols for influx and efflux determination in intact plant roots, using potassium (K+) and ammonia/ammonium (NH3/NH4+) fluxes as examples. Advantages and limitations of such techniques are discussed.
10:48
Nutrients in Aquatic Ecosystems
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2023
Source: Laboratories of Margaret Workman and Kimberly Frye - Depaul University Nitrogen and phosphorus are essential plant nutrients found in aquatic ecosystems and both are monitored as a part of water quality testing because in excess amounts they can cause significant water quality problems. Nitrogen in water is measured as the common form nitrate (NO3-) that is dissolved in water and readily absorbed by photosynthesizers such as algae. The common form of phosphorus measured is phosphate...
10:11
The Benthic Exchange of O2, N2 and Dissolved Nutrients Using Small Core Incubations
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Cited by 13 •
2016
Here, we present small core incubations for the measurement of sediment-water gas and solute exchange. These will provide reliable measurements of sediment-water exchange that assess the role of sediment in influencing biological and biogeochemical processes in aquatic ecosystems.
09:13
Hydroponics: A Versatile System to Study Nutrient Allocation and Plant Responses to Nutrient Availability and Exposure to Toxic Elements
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Cited by 102 •
2016
Here, we present an easy-to-follow protocol to establish a successful hydroponic system for plant nutrition studies. This protocol has been extensively tested in Arabidopsis and can easily be adapted to other plant species to study specific nutritional requirements or the effect of non-essential elements on plant growth and development.
13:31
Soil Nutrient Analysis: Nitrogen, Phosphorus, and Potassium
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2023
Source: Laboratories of Margaret Workman and Kimberly Frye - Depaul University In this experiment, three soil macronutrients are chemically extracted, combined with color-based reagents, then analyzed using color to determine the nutrient concentration present in the soil sample. Nitrogen, phosphorus, and potassium are the main components of soil fertilizer. These methods isolate each nutrient from the soil into a solution that can be analyzed using turbidity and color to determine the...
FAQs
A flux measurement adds a rate dimension to information about nutrient presence. It can show how quickly an element enters, leaves, or circulates among chemical pools, whereas a pool measurement describes material located in a compartment at a given point. This distinction helps interpret availability and transport across soil, water, organisms, and the atmosphere.
These processes represent different ways nutrients can move or change within a system. Diffusion and advection contribute to transport, while dissolution and adsorption alter how nutrients are associated with chemical pools. Uptake transfers nutrients into organisms, and chemical transformation changes their form. Considering the pathways together helps explain measured movement among environmental compartments.
Chemical pools provide the compartments in which nutrients are held before, during, or after transfer. Tracking movement among these pools connects a measured rate with the processes producing it, including adsorption, dissolution, uptake, and chemical transformation. This perspective is important in chemistry because the same element can be followed as it circulates through linked environmental compartments.
An assessment can examine elements such as nitrogen, phosphorus, and carbon across soil, water, organisms, and the atmosphere. The scope depends on which inputs, outputs, and internal transfers are being quantified. Organizing observations by element and compartment allows researchers to compare movement among environmental settings and relate chemical transfers to system-level outcomes.
Researchers should quantify nutrient availability and transport, including how nutrients enter, leave, and circulate among chemical pools. Measurements can be organized around the relevant transfer processes and environmental compartments rather than treating the system as a single undifferentiated space. This approach supports interpretation of whether observed nutrient behavior reflects transport, uptake, or chemical transformation.
It supports analysis of ecosystem productivity, water quality, soil fertility, and the effects of pollution or environmental change on nutrient cycling. In chemistry and biogeochemistry, researchers can use transfer measurements to connect elemental movement with chemical transformations across compartments. These applications make flux analysis useful for comparing how nutrient cycling behaves across environmental systems.