TY - JOUR
T1 - Biological constraints on water transport in the soil-plant-atmosphere system
AU - Manzoni, Stefano
AU - Vico, Giulia
AU - Porporato, Amilcare Michele M.
AU - Katul, Gabriel
N1 - Funding Information:
This work was supported in part by the United States Department of Energy (DOE) through the Office of Biological and Environmental Research (BER) Terrestrial Carbon Processes program (NICCR Grant: DE-FC02-06ER64156 ) and Terrestrial Ecosystem Science program (DE-SC0006967), the US Department of Agriculture (USDA Grant: 2011-67003-30222 ), and the National Science Foundation ( NSF-CBET-1033467 , NSF-EAR-10-13339 , NSF-AGS-1102227 , NSF-DEB-1145649 ). We also thank Danielle A. Way, Andrew J. Guswa, and two anonymous reviewers for their constructive comments.
PY - 2013/1
Y1 - 2013/1
N2 - An effective description of water transport in the soil-plant-atmosphere continuum (SPAC) is needed for wide-ranging applications in hydrology and climate-vegetation interactions. In this contribution, the theory of water movement within the SPAC is reviewed with emphasis on the eco-physiological and evolutionary constraints to water transport. The description of the SPAC can be framed at two widely separated time scales: (i) sub-hourly to growing season scales, relevant for hydro-climatic effects on ecosystem fluxes (given a set of plant hydraulic traits), and (ii) inter-annual to centennial scales during which either hydraulic traits may change, as individuals grow and acclimate, or species composition may change. At the shorter time scales, water transport can be described by water balance equations where fluxes depend on the hydraulic features of the different compartments, encoded in the form of conductances that nonlinearly depend on water availability. Over longer time scales, ontogeny, acclimation, and shifts in species composition in response to environmental changes can impose constraints on these equations in the form of tradeoffs and coordinated changes in the hydraulic (and biochemical) parameters. Quantification of this evolutionary coordination and the related tradeoffs offers novel theoretical tactics to constrain hydrologic and biogeochemical models.
AB - An effective description of water transport in the soil-plant-atmosphere continuum (SPAC) is needed for wide-ranging applications in hydrology and climate-vegetation interactions. In this contribution, the theory of water movement within the SPAC is reviewed with emphasis on the eco-physiological and evolutionary constraints to water transport. The description of the SPAC can be framed at two widely separated time scales: (i) sub-hourly to growing season scales, relevant for hydro-climatic effects on ecosystem fluxes (given a set of plant hydraulic traits), and (ii) inter-annual to centennial scales during which either hydraulic traits may change, as individuals grow and acclimate, or species composition may change. At the shorter time scales, water transport can be described by water balance equations where fluxes depend on the hydraulic features of the different compartments, encoded in the form of conductances that nonlinearly depend on water availability. Over longer time scales, ontogeny, acclimation, and shifts in species composition in response to environmental changes can impose constraints on these equations in the form of tradeoffs and coordinated changes in the hydraulic (and biochemical) parameters. Quantification of this evolutionary coordination and the related tradeoffs offers novel theoretical tactics to constrain hydrologic and biogeochemical models.
KW - Hydraulic conductivity
KW - Plant trait
KW - Soil-plant-atmosphere continuum
KW - Transpiration
KW - Vulnerability to cavitation
KW - Water potential
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U2 - 10.1016/j.advwatres.2012.03.016
DO - 10.1016/j.advwatres.2012.03.016
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:84872899080
SN - 0309-1708
VL - 51
SP - 292
EP - 304
JO - Advances in Water Resources
JF - Advances in Water Resources
ER -