Limitations of temporally linearized soil-water flux gradients in estimating root water uptake.

Modeling compensated root water and nutrient uptake

Tree water status is mainly determined by the amount of water taken up from roots and lost through leaves by transpiration. Variations in transpiration and stomatal conductance are often related to atmospheric conditions and leaf water potential. Yet, few experimental datasets exist that enable to relate leaf water potential, transpiration dynamics and temporal variation of root water uptake from different depths during soil drying. Here we explored the soil-plant hydraulic system using field measurements of water potentials and fluxes in soils, roots, stems and leaves of beech (Fagus sylvatica) and spruce (Picea abies) trees. Spruce maintained less negative water potentials than beech during soil drying, reflecting a more stringent stomatal control. While root water uptake depths were similar between species, water potentials in plant tissues of spruce were rather constant and less correlated across roots and the stem, possibly because of large water storage and hydraulic capacitance in these tissues. Root water uptake from deep soil layers increased during dry periods, particularly for beech. Our data suggest that species-specific root hydraulic conductance, capacitance and water uptake strategy are linked and affect transpiration dynamics. Thus, it is important to include such species-specific hydraulics when predicting transpiration rates based on plant water status.

Current capabilities and future needs of root water and nutrient uptake modeling

Abstract. How much water can be taken up by roots and how this depends on the root and water distributions in the root zone are important questions that need to be answered to describe water fluxes in the soil–plant–atmosphere system. Physically based root water uptake (RWU) models that relate RWU to transpiration, root density, and water potential distributions have been developed but used or tested far less. This study aims at evaluating the simulated RWU of winter wheat using the empirical Feddes–Jarvis (FJ) model and the physically based Couvreur (C) model for different soil water conditions and soil textures compared to sap flow measurements. Soil water content (SWC), water potential, and root development were monitored noninvasively at six soil depths in two rhizotron facilities that were constructed in two soil textures: stony vs. silty, with each of three water treatments: sheltered, rainfed, and irrigated. Soil and root parameters of the two models were derived from inverse modeling and simulated RWU was compared with sap flow measurements for validation. The different soil types and water treatments resulted in different crop biomass, root densities, and root distributions with depth. The two models simulated the lowest RWU in the sheltered plot of the stony soil where RWU was also lower than the potential RWU. In the silty soil, simulated RWU was equal to the potential uptake for all treatments. The variation of simulated RWU among the different plots agreed well with measured sap flow but the C model predicted the ratios of the transpiration fluxes in the two soil types slightly better than the FJ model. The root hydraulic parameters of the C model could be constrained by the field data but not the water stress parameters of the FJ model. This was attributed to differences in root densities between the different soils and treatments which are accounted for by the C model, whereas the FJ model only considers normalized root densities. The impact of differences in root density on RWU could be accounted for directly by the physically based RWU model but not by empirical models that use normalized root density functions.

Plants take up water from the root zone and thus affect the three-dimensional water flow field and solute transport processes in the soil. In this study, the impacts of root architecture, plant solute uptake mechanisms (passive, active, and solute exclusion), and plant transpiration rate on the water flow field in the soil and on solute spreading were simulated. Therefore, a fully mechanistic model was used to simulate water flow along water potential gradients in the root–soil continuum by coupling a three-dimensional Richards equation in the soil with a flow equation in the root xylem vessels. Solute transport was simulated using a three-dimensional random walk particle tracking algorithm. To quantify the effect of root water and nutrient uptake on solute transport, an equivalent one-dimensional flow and transport model was fitted to horizontally averaged simulation results, and the fitted apparent parameters were compared with the parameters of the three-dimensional model. Our simulation results showed that the apparent dispersivity length is affected by the heterogeneous flow field, caused by root water uptake, and changed in a range of 50%, depending on solute redistribution in the root zone that depends on solute uptake type and soil dispersivity length. In addition, simulation results indicate that local concentration gradients within the root zone have an impact on apparent solute uptake rate parameters used in one-dimensional models to calculate uptake rates from spatially averaged concentrations. This shows the importance of small scale three-dimensional water and solute fluxes induced by root water and nutrient uptake.

Information on root distribution and uptake patterns is useful to better understand crop responses to irrigation and fertigation, especially with the limited wetted soil volumes which develop under drip irrigation. Plant water uptake patterns play an important role in the success of drip irrigation system design and management. Here the root systems of corn were characterized by their length density (RLD) and root water uptake (RWU). Comparisons were made between the spatial patterns of corn RWU and RLD under surface and subsurface drip irrigation in a silt loam soil, considering a drip line on a crop row and between crop rows. Water uptake distribution was measured with an array of TDR probes at high spatial and temporal resolution. Root length density was measured by sampling soil cores on a grid centered on crop row. Roots were separated and an estimation of root geometrical attributes was made using two different image analysis programs. Comparisons of these programs yielded nearly identical estimates of RLD. The spatial patterns of RWU and RLD distributions, respectively normalized to the total uptake and root length, were generally similar only for drip line on a crop row, but with some local variations between the two measures. Both RLD and RWU were adequately fitted with parametric models based on semi-lognormal and normal Gaussian bivariate density functions (Coelho and Or, 1996; Soil Sci. Soc. Am. J. 60, 1039–1049).

Root development and water uptake in winter wheat under different irrigation methods and scheduling for North China

The coupling of soil and root water fluxes at the plant scale is a particularly challenging task. Numerical three‐dimensional plant‐scale models exist that consider these soil–root interactions. The influence of the hydraulic conductivity drop at the microscopic scale and especially the effect on root water uptake is not yet assessed in such models. In this study, an analytical approach describing the hydraulic conductivity drop from the bulk soil to the soil–root interface for a three‐dimensional plant‐scale model was derived and validated by numerical means. With these tools, quantification of the local hydraulic conductivity drop with time was possible. Furthermore, the effect of the hydraulic conductivity drop on the time occurrence of plant stress was evaluated. Root water uptake was assessed, with and without considering the hydraulic conductivity drop around single roots in a three‐dimensional plant‐scale model in terms of total water uptake at the root collar under different soil and root properties. It was shown that the total root water uptake was strongly affected, especially under conditions where the radial root hydraulic conductivity, which regulates root water uptake, was larger than the soil hydraulic conductivity, which regulates water flow in the soil. These findings were backed up by numerical validation of the model using mesh refinement. Incorporation of the hydraulic conductivity drop around individual roots in a three‐dimensional plant‐scale model can solve problems with greater accuracy for larger grid resolutions, and with smaller computational times, than not considering the hydraulic conductivity drop.

Root growth is critical for crops to use soil water under water-limited conditions. A field study was conducted to investigate the effect of available soil water on root and shoot growth, and root water uptake in winter wheat (Triticum aestivum L.) under deficit irrigation in a semi-arid environment. Treatments consisted of rainfed, deficit irrigation at different developmental stages, and adequate irrigation. The rainfed plots had the lowest shoot dry weight because available soil water decreased rapidly from booting to late grain filling. For the deficit-irrigation treatments, crops that received irrigation at jointing and booting had higher shoot dry weight than those that received irrigation at anthesis and middle grain filling. Rapid root growth occurred in both rainfed and irrigated crops from floral initiation to anthesis, and maximum rooting depth occurred by booting. Root length density and dry weight decreased after anthesis. From floral initiation to booting, root length density and growth rate were higher in rainfed than in irrigated crops. However, root length density and growth rate were lower in rainfed than in irrigated crops from booting to anthesis. As a result, the difference in root length density between rainfed and irrigated treatments was small during grain filling. The root growth and water use below 1.4 m were limited by a caliche (45% CaCO3) layer at about 1.4 m profile. The mean water uptake rate decreased as available soil water decreased. During grain filling, root water uptake was higher from the irrigated crops than from the rainfed. Irrigation from jointing to anthesis increased seasonal evapotranspiration, grain yield, harvest index and water-use efficiency based on yield (WUE), but did not affect water-use efficiency based on aboveground biomass. There was no significant difference in WUE among irrigation treatments except one-irrigation at middle grain filling. Due to a relatively deep root system in rainfed crops, the higher grain yield and WUE in irrigated crops compared to rainfed crops was not a result of rooting depth or root length density, but increased harvest index, and higher water uptake rate during grain filling.

Estimation of water uptake pattern of groundnut ( Arachis hypogaea L.)

• We introduce a new analytical relationship between soil moisture and water flux. • Flux can be calculated from single-depth moisture data along the unsaturated zone. • The new solution is based on Richards equation with arbitrary hydraulic functions. • This solution allows shallow or deep groundwater table at the bottom boundary. Finding a relationship between soil moisture and soil water flux at a single soil depth has been of particular interest in recent years. Such a relationship, however, is challenging to derive due to a high degree of nonlinearity of the soil water flow governing equation, known as Richards equation. This paper presents a new algebraic soil moisture-flux relationship based on an approximate analytical solution of Richards equation with arbitrary soil hydraulic functions. This solution accounts for the groundwater contributions to soil moisture variations along the unsaturated zone. The new solution was evaluated using numerical solutions of Richards equation via the HYDRUS-1D model. Despite its simplicity, the new solution could reproduce HYDRUS-1D simulations for a homogeneous soil profile with coefficient of determination (R 2 ) higher than 0.9 in most cases. The new solution offers a potential approach to modeling groundwater recharge in existing groundwater models. In particular, this model can potentially provide a more realistic recharge estimate compared to the kinematic-wave approximation of Richards equation, that neglects upward flows through the vadose zone. Future research is needed to account for soil layering and root water uptake in the soil moisture-flux relationship.

Rice plants in the rainfed areas are mostly grown under fluctuating soil moisture. We examined responses in dry matter production, root development and water use to changing soil moisture in diverse rice cultivars. Rice plants were grown in polyvinyl chloride tubes under glasshouse conditions. Progressive drought right after planting greatly inhibited the shoot dry matter production, tiller development, nodal root development and water uptake in all cultivars tested. When the plants experienced soil submergence before being exposed to drought, all the cultivars exhibited higher dry matter production than their well-watered counterparts. Cultivar differences were clearly noted in the growth responses to rewatering after these plants were droughted. With well–watered control as basis, IRAT 109 and KDML 105 plants increased efficiency in converting available dry matter to increase their total root length by means of enhanced lateral root development. In the latter, however, the dry weight of roots also increased and so did root water uptake. In Dular, droughted plants did not show a clear response in terms of root development and water uptake to rewatering while its shoot growth was much more severely inhibited than the other cultivars. These findings suggest that phenotypic plasticity in the root system structure exhibited by promoted lateral root development and new nodal root production play a key role in the growth of rice under changing moisture level in the soil.

In an increasingly dry environment, it is crucial to understand how tree species use soil water and cope with drought. However, there is still a knowledge gap regarding the relationships between species-specific stomatal behaviour, spatial root distribution, and root water uptake (RWU) dynamics.Our study aimed to investigate above- and below-ground aspects of water use during soil drying periods in four temperate tree species that differ in stomatal behaviour: two isohydric tracheid-bearing conifers, Scots pine and Norway spruce, and two more anisohydric deciduous species, the diffuse-porous European beech, and the ring-porous Downy oak. From 2015 to 2020, soil-tree-atmosphere-continuum parameters were measured for each species in monospecific forests where trees had no access to groundwater. The hourly time series included data on air temperature, vapor pressure deficit, soil water potential, soil hydraulic conductivity, and RWU to a depth of 2 m. Analysis of drought responses included data on stem radius, leaf water potential, estimated osmotically active compounds, and drought damage.Our study reveals an inherent coordination between stomatal regulation, fine root distribution and water uptake. Compared to conifers, the more anisohydric water use of oak and beech was associated with less strict stomatal closure, greater investment in deep roots, four times higher maximum RWU, a shift of RWU to deeper soil layers as the topsoil dried, and a more pronounced soil drying below 1 m depth. Soil hydraulic conductivity started to limit RWU when values fell below 10−3 to 10−5 cm/d, depending on the soil. As drought progressed, oak and beech may also have benefited from their leaf osmoregulatory capacity, but at the cost of xylem embolism with around 50 % loss of hydraulic conductivity when soil water potential dropped below −1.25 MPa.Consideration of species-specific water use is crucial for forest management and vegetation modelling to improve forest resilience to drought.

Effects of subsoil loosening and irrigation on soil physical properties, root distribution and water uptake of potatoes ( Solanum tuberosum)

<p>Plants can modulate the source and magnitude of water uptake under environmental stresses, ultimately constraining water and energy fluxes across Earth’s surface. These alterations are scarcely quantified for future climatic scenarios such as warming, elevated atmospheric CO<sub>2</sub> (eCO<sub>2</sub>), and droughts—all projected by the end of this century. Here we use diurnal soil moisture dynamics throughout the 2019 growing season to quantify the impacts of these three global change factors on root water uptake in a managed C<sub>3</sub> mountain grassland in Austria; a key agricultural landscape within central Europe. To determine whether plants alter water uptake via root trait adjustments, we then compared water uptake to root morphological traits. We expected that 1) drought and eCO<sub>2</sub> (+300 ppm) would reduce root water uptake relative to ambient conditions due to supply limitation and a lower stomatal conductance, whereas 2) greater vapor pressure gradients in warmed systems would elevate transpiration rates, increasing root water uptake. Plants reduced water uptake in droughted plots by ~35% regardless of other factors applied, due to decreased water extraction from the soil surface during the peak drought. Warmed plots had unexpectedly lower water uptake by 17-25% relative to control plots. Finally, vegetation in eCO<sub>2</sub> plots displayed similar water uptake to plots under ambient conditions; however, eCO<sub>2</sub> effects did buffer warming effects, such that plots with eCO<sub>2 </sub>and warming extracted less water than those subjected to warming alone. Root morphological traits showed strong linear correlations (R > 0.7, or R < -0.7) to root water uptake in ambient, drought, and eCO<sub>2</sub> plots, yet no significant relationship was found for plots under warming or multifactor treatments. Relationships were strongest and most abundant following a drought. This suggests that—though plants may optimize root structure for drought recovery—plants may alter their root systems to account for resource limitations other than water in a warming climate. Altogether, we show that warming, eCO<sub>2</sub>, and droughts may significantly alter the root water extraction in managed C<sub>3</sub> mountain grasslands, but changes in water availability alone may not fully explain plant water uptake responses.</p>