Water Uptake and Salt-Distribution Patterns in Saline Soils

There is.an interaction between the pattern of water uptake from saline soils and the distribution of salts within the soil profile. To predict the response of a plant to the combined matric and osmotic components of the water potential, integrated over the entire root zone, it is necessary to solve the water-uptake and salt-leaching problems simultaneously. Data in the literature suggest that little saline water will be taken up so long as there is non-saline water at a higher potential within the root zone. The implications of this hypothesis with respect to salinity control in the field are discussed. Tentative conclusions concerning the re-use of saline water are also drawn. (author)