Abstract
Of the 18 or more elements required by plants or beneficial to their development, only carbon has its immediate source in the atmosphere. Except in a few special cases such as lichens and some aerial plants, other required elements are obtained from the soil. One exception to this is the fixation of N2 by some symbiotic associations (Chapt. II.2). Under most circumstances the availability of elements is limited, however, and so the death and decomposition of plant material is essential to the maintenance of the supply of necessary elements for new growth (Gosz et al. 1973).
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Delwiche, C.C. (1983). Cycling of Elements in the Biosphere. In: Läuchli, A., Bieleski, R.L. (eds) Inorganic Plant Nutrition. Encyclopedia of Plant Physiology, vol 15. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-68885-0_8
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-68885-0_8
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