Phosphorus impoverished soils, phosphorus is hidden within the soil particles

It is important to note that in phosphorus impoverished soils, phosphorus is hidden within the soil particles and hence there is need for a mechanism that can “mine” the scarce phosphorous in an effective way. Cluster roots in Cyperaceae are well suited in their structure for this function as the roots exude enough carboxylates for this function. This act is synonymous to the “scavenging” strategy employed by mycorrhizal plants (Lambers et al., 2008). It is notable that growth of root clusters of the Cyperaceae become stimulated once these plants sense low phosphorus supply in the soil. The life of these modified roots is very short; nevertheless, they are able to exude carboxylates at a very fast rate (compared to roots that are not specialized for this function) in the root development process.