Agriculture, Ecosystems and Environment 86 (2001) 323–327
Book reviews
Nutrient Elements in Grassland: Soil–Plant–Animal
Relationships
David C. Whitehead (Ed.); CAB Publishing, Hard-
back, £ 60, US$ 110, 2000, 384 pages, ISBN 0-
85199437-7, US$ 110
This excellent book is a compendium of facts and
figures concerning various chemical elements that
are considered as nutrients for temperate grassland
plants and for the ruminant animals (cows and sheep)
which forage on these plants. The detail is meticulous,
comprehensive and most certainly up to date with
more than 1000 references spanning the past 50 years
(from 1950 to 2000). The introductory chapter con-
tains useful background information and defines the
essentiality of macro- and micro-nutrient elements,
describes four broad types of temperate grasslands
(natural, semi-natural and managed either intensively
or extensively), briefly talks about the significance
of legumes in these systems, the factors influencing
common plant and animal nutrient deficiencies, sum-
marises nutrient cycling processes and details pro-
cedures to avoid major problems with sampling and
analysis. Chapter 1 concludes with a brief description
of the rationale used throughout the later chapters in
the book for constructing mass balances for each of
the nutrients.
Chapters 2–4 deal with general information about
nutrient elements, firstly in soils, secondly in grass-
land herbage and thirdly in ruminant animals. Chapter
2 describes the influence that parent material has on
nutrient composition of soil and the processes gov-
erning availability of nutrients for plant uptake in
relation to soil characteristics. Atmospheric inputs of
nutrient to soil are discussed as well as the effects
of inputs from fertilisers and lime, plant residues,
animal excreta and sewage sludges. The chapter con-
cludes with a brief section on nutrient loss processes.
Chapter 3 covers the uptake and concentration of
nutrient elements in grassland herbage. It clearly
outlines the growth and characteristics of roots of
grassland plants, including mechanisms of nutrient
uptake and the importance of the rhizosphere and my-
corrhizal associations. Further sections in this chapter
describe nutrient transport, metabolism and distri-
bution of nutrients in grassland plants, the chemical
forms of nutrients in herbage, and the concept of the
critical concentration for a particular nutrient in plant
tissue. There is also a discussion about the ranges of
nutrient concentrations that have been reported for
grassland herbage and the factors, other than analyt-
ical error or sample contamination, which contribute
to this variation. These include the stage of matu-
rity of the herbage, species differences, seasonal and
weather factors, soil type and management factors,
such as application of fertilisers, which influence nu-
trient input (as mentioned in Chapter 2). Chapter 4
presents information on nutrient elements in ruminant
animals. An outline of digestive physiology in rumi-
nant animals is followed by sections on metabolic
requirements for nutrients, homeostatic control of nu-
trients and concentrations in animal tissues and milk,
absorption and availability of nutrients in the diet of
animals, the assessment of dietary requirements and
the diagnosis of deficiencies. There are interesting
sections on ingestion of soil by ruminant animals,
nutrients in drinking water and the chapter concludes
with a section concerning the partitioning of ingested
nutrients to animal product and excreta.
Chapters 5–7 provide detailed quantitative descrip-
tions of the integrated processes operating in the
plant–soil–animal continuum for each of the three ma-
jor macro-nutrients, namely nitrogen, phosphorus and
sulphur. The concepts introduced in Chapters 2–4 are
expanded upon and specific information is presented
concerning nutrient sources, inputs, accumulation and
0167-8809/01/$ – see front matter © 2001 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.