chresard
English edit
Etymology edit
From Ancient Greek χρῆσις (khrêsis, “use”) + ἄρδω (árdō, “to water, to irrigate”).
Pronunciation edit
Noun edit
chresard (plural chresards)
- (dated) The portion of the water in a sample of soil that is available to vegetation (e.g. plant roots)
- 1929, Frederic Clements, Plant Competition: An Analysis of Community Functions, page 238:
- As in the previous series the chresard decreased progressively with the density, but the correspondence with depth was less consistent.
- 2008, Susan Merriweather Harris, The Western Cross Timbers: Scenario of the Past, Outcome for the Future, page 12:
- The soil is typically light and sandy, and the oaks are relicts from a moist phase of the climatic cycle that have been able to maintain themselves against the competition of the grasses by virtue of the favored chresard of the sandy soil.