Rhizosphere

The term rhizosphere was coined in 1904 by bacteriologists Lorenz Hiltner and referred to the immediately affected by living root zone in the soil. The influences can be physical, chemical and biological nature. In general, a range of up to 40 mm is referred to as the root rhizosphere. This area is the soil ecological of particular interest because here interact soil and plants.

The rhizosphere is strongly influenced by substances that are released from the plant, called exudates. It also differs from the surrounding soil by reducing nutrient and oxygen concentrations, since both will be consumed by the plant. Also, the pH can differ by several units from the surrounding ground here.

In particular, the votes exudates and better pH conditions, the rhizosphere is characterized by a generally much higher organisms - density from ( 5 to 50 -fold), this phenomenon is called the rhizosphere. The rhizosphere is an important habitat for a variety of biological communities consist mainly of nematodes, fungi (including mycorrhizae ) and other microorganisms. The higher organisms stocking one hand, leads to competition between roots and soil organisms, on the other hand, these may also additional nutrients for the plant to make available (eg rhizobia or other Bioeffektoren ).