Root-soil friction: quantification provides evidence for measurable benefits for manipulation of root-tip traits.

To penetrate soil, a root requires pressure both to expand the cavity it is to occupy, σn , and to overcome root-soil friction, σf . Difficulties in estimating these two pressures independently have limited our ability to estimate the coefficient of soil-root friction, μsr . We used a rotated penetrometer probe, of similar dimensions to a root, and for the first time entering the soil at a similar rate to a root tip, to estimate σn .