Soil Properties and Root Development in Forest Trees: A Review

The literature is reviewed with the aim of consolidating silviculturally important information about interactions between root system development and soil properties; a complementary objective is to facilitate the reader's entry into the literature. The thesis is that root systems of forest trees develop in response to complex genetic, physiological and environmental (edaphic and atmospheric) interactions, subject to limitations imposed by aboveground growth and limiting levels of any of many individual factors. Fifteen "soil factors", the "soil-root interface", and six "plant factors" are examined in turn, though the importance of the web of interrelationships is stressed throughout.