A soil quality index reflecting the ease of root water uptake
Meisam Nazari
Soil quality is a key determinant of plant growth and ecosystem functioning, yet conventional assessments often overlook it from the plant’s perspective. Here, we propose the Ease of Root Water Uptake Index (ERWUI), a dynamic index that quantifies the energy required by plants to extract water from the soil, based on soil water retention characteristics, rooting depth, and temporal changes. The index was applied to two contrasting soils from Germany, including a silty loam under organic wheat cu