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ARS Home » Pacific West Area » Davis, California » Crops Pathology and Genetics Research » Research » Publications at this Location » Publication #323939
Title: Plant hydraulics as a hub integrating plant and ecosystem function

Author
item SACK, LAWREN - University Of California
item BALL, MARILYN - Australian National University
item BRODERSEN, CRAIG - Yale University
item DONOVAN, LISA - University Of Georgia
item GIVNISH, THOMAS - University Of Wisconsin
item HACKE, UWE - University Of Alberta
item HUXMAN, TRAVIS - University Of California
item JANSEN, STEVEN - Ulm University
item JACOBSEN, ANNA - California State University
item JOHNSON, DAN - University Of Idaho
item KOCH, GEORGE - Northern Arizona University
item MAUREL, CHRISTOPHE - Institut National De La Recherche Agronomique (INRA)
item MCCULLOH, KATE - University Of Wisconsin
item McElrone, Andrew
item MEINZER, FREDERICK - US Department Of Agriculture (USDA)
item MELCHER, PETER - Ithaca College
item NORTH, GRETCHEN - Occidental College
item PELLEGRINI, MATTEO - University Of California
item PRATT, BRANDON - California State University
item SANTIAGO, LOU - University Of California
item SAVAGE, JESSICA - Harvard University
item SCOFFONI, CHRISTINE - University Of California
item SPERRY, JOHN - University Of Utah
item TYERMAN, STEPHEN - University Of Adelaide
item HOLBROOK, N.MICHELE - Harvard University

Submitted to: Plant Cell and Environment
Publication Type: Peer Reviewed Journal
Publication Acceptance Date: 3/6/2016
Publication Date: 7/20/2016
Citation: Sack, L., Ball, M.C., Brodersen, C., Donovan, L.A., Givnish, T.J., Hacke, U.G., Huxman, T., Jansen, S., Jacobsen, A., Johnson, D., Koch, G.W., Maurel, C., Mcculloh, K., Mcelrone, A.J., Meinzer, F.C., Melcher, P.J., North, G., Pellegrini, M., Pratt, B., Santiago, L., Savage, J., Scoffoni, C., Sperry, J., Tyerman, S.D., Holbrook, N. 2016. Plant hydraulics as a hub integrating plant and ecosystem function. Plant Cell and Environment. doi: 10.1111/pce.12732.

Interpretive Summary: Leading researchers in the field of plant hydraulics converged in Virginia for an NSF workshop to resolve current debates in the field and delineate new research directions. The workshop enabled in person dialogue to discuss recent research results that contradict two decades of exisiting research. This report summarizes the meeting outcomes and lays a roadmap for future work building off the foundation of older work in light of recent findings.

Technical Abstract: Water plays a central role in plant biology and the efficiency of water transport throughout the plant (i.e., “plant hydraulics”) affects both photosynthetic rate and growth, an influence that scales up deterministically to the productivity of terrestrial ecosystems. Moreover, hydraulic traits mediate the ways in which plants interact with their abiotic (e.g., drought, temperature extremes) and biotic (e.g., pathogens, invasive species) environment. At landscape to global scale, plant hydraulic traits are important in describing the function of ecological communities and ecosystems. Indeed, as a discipline, plant hydraulics is increasingly recognized as a central hub within a network by which plant biology is connected to paleobiology, agronomy, climatology, forestry, community and ecosystem ecology, and earth-system science. Such grand challenges as anticipating and mitigating the impacts of climate change, or improving the security and sustainability of our food supply rely on our fundamental knowledge of how water behaves in the cells, tissues, organs, bodies, and diverse communities of plants. A workshop entitled "Emerging Frontiers in Plant Hydraulics" supported by the National Science Foundation, was held in Washington DC, 2015, over 2.5 days with 36 participants. The goal of the workshop was to promote open discussion of new ideas, controversies regarding measurements and analyses, and especially, the potential for expansion both of up- and down-scaled inter-disciplinary research, and the strengthening of connections between plant hydraulic research, allied fields and global modeling efforts. The workshop made clear the need for continuous emerging discussion and agreement on grand challenges, to promote full understanding of plant water transport and its implications—from genes through proteins to whole plant to ecosystems to biomimetic applications.