13. Soils and Mineral Nutrition

Concepts
Essential Elements

• Criteria for Essentiality

Mineral Deficiency Diseases

• Causes of Deficiency Diseases
• Symptoms of Deficiency Diseases
• Mobile and Immobile Elements

Soils and Mineral Availability

• Cation Exchange
• Soil Acidity
• The Endodermis and Selective Absorption of Substances
• Mycorrhizae and the Absorption of Phosphorus

Nitrogen Metabolism

• Nitrogen Fixation
• Nitrogen Reduction
• Nitrogen Assimilation

Storage of Minerals within Plants
Plants and People: Plants Eat Dirt, People Eat Protoplasm
Botany and Beyond: Acid Rain
Plants and People: From Fertility Gods to Fertilizers