The rhizosphere in soil environments refers to the narrow zone of soil influenced by the root and exudates. Microbial populations in the rhizosphere can be 10 - 100 times larger than the populations in the bulk soil. Therefore, the rhizosphere is bathed in root exudates and microbial metabolites and the chemistry and biology at the soil-root interface is governed by biotic (plant roots, microbes) and abiotic (physical and chemical) interactions. The research on biotic and abiotic interactions in the rhizosphere should, thus, be an issue of intense interest for years to come. This book, which consists of 15 chapters, addresses a variety of issues on fundamentals of microscopic levels and the impact on food chain contamination and the terrestrial ecosystem. It is an essential reference work for chemists and biologists studying environmental systems, as well as earth, soil and environmental scientists. * 15 chapter book, which addresses a variety of issues on fundamentals of microscopic levels and the impact on food chain contamination and the terrestrial ecosystem.

Part I. Fundamentals of transformations and dynamics of trace elements. -- 1. Contribution of rhizospheric processes to mineral weathering in forest soils. -- 2. Mineral weathering in the rhizosphere of forested soils. -- 3. Characteristics of rhizosphere soil from natural and agricultural environments. -- 4. Metal complexation by phytosiderophores in the rhizosphere. -- 5. Effects of organic ligands on the adsorption of trace elements onto metal oxides and organomineral complexes. -- 6. Kinetics of cadmium desorption from iron oxides formed under the influence of citrate. -- 7. Biogeochemistry of soil cadmium and the impact on terrestrial food chain contamination. -- Part II. Speciation, bioavailability, and phytotoxicity of trace elements. -- 8. Speciation and bioavailability of trace metals (Cd, Cu, Ni, Pb, Zn) in the rhizosphere of contaminated soils. -- 9. Influence of willow (Salix viminalis L.) roots on soil metal chemistry: Effects of clones with varying metal uptake potential. -- 10. Fractionation and bioavailability of copper, cadmium and lead in rhizosphere soil. -- 11. Bioavailability and extractability of copper and zinc in a soil amended with pig slurry: Effect of iron deficiency in the rhizosphere of two grasses. -- 12. Binding and electrostatic attraction of trace elements to plant root surfaces. -- 13. Model development for simulating the bioavailability of Ni to the hyperaccumulator Thlaspi goesingense. -- 14. Effect of arbuscular mycorrhizal (AM) fungi on heavy metal and radionuclide transfer to plants. -- 15. Uptake and translocation of uranium by arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi under monoxenic culture conditions.

Includes bibliographical references and index.

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