Nearly all the chemical elements that make up living things are mineral elements, the ultimate source of which is rock weathered into soil. The plant physiologist must horticulturist and forester meet problems almost daily which require for their solution specific knowledge dialing with the mineral nutrition of many kinds of plants, and lastly the fertilizer manufacturer, who is called upon to supply the needed mineral nutrients.

Mineral Nutrition of Plants explains that plant roots “mine” these nutrient elements from their inorganic substrate and introduce them into the realm of living things. The author traces the subsequent movement of these nutrients into other plant organs, tissues, cells, and organelles, their biochemical assimilation, and their functions in plant physiology and metabolism. Treatment of these processes extents from molecular biology through global biogeochemistry. The text is accessible both to undergraduate students in plant physiology, agronomy, horticulture and environmental studies and to researchers in these and other plant biological fields.