Abstract
Physical perturbation of a plant canopy brought about by wind is a ubiquitous phenomenon and yet its biological importance has often been overlooked. This is partly due to the complexity of the issue at hand: wind-induced movement (or mechanical excitation) is a stochastic process which is difficult to measure and quantify; plant motion is dependent upon canopy architectural features which, until recently, were difficult to accurately represent and model in 3-dimensions; light patterning throughout a canopy is difficult to compute at high-resolutions, especially when confounded by other environmental variables. Recent studies have reinforced the expectation that canopy architecture is a strong determinant of productivity and yield; however, links between the architectural properties of the plant and its mechanical properties, particularly its response to wind, are relatively unknown. As a result, biologically relevant data relating canopy architecture, light- dynamics, and short-scale photosynthetic responses in the canopy setting are scarce. Here, we hypothesize that wind-induced movement will have large consequences for the photosynthetic productivity of our crops due to its influence on light patterning. To address this issue, in this study we combined high resolution 3D reconstructions of a plant canopy with a simple representation of canopy perturbation as a result of wind using solid body rotation in order to explore the potential effects on light patterning, interception, and photosynthetic productivity. We looked at two different scenarios: firstly a constant distortion where a rice canopy was subject to a permanent distortion throughout the whole day; and secondly, a dynamic distortion, where the canopy was distorted in incremental steps between two extremes at set time points in the day. We find that mechanical canopy excitation substantially alters light dynamics; light distribution and modeled canopy carbon gain. We then discuss methods required for accurate modeling of mechanical canopy excitation (here coined the 4-dimensional plant) and some associated biological and applied implications of such techniques. We hypothesize that biomechanical plant properties are a specific adaptation to achieve wind-induced photosynthetic enhancement and we outline how traits facilitating canopy excitation could be used as a route for improving crop yield.
Highlights
Plant movement can be classed as autonomic or occur as a biological response to stimuli
Within this study we aim to test the theory that mechanical canopy excitation may promote photosynthesis within crop canopies through altered light dynamics and that the effect is dependent on the amplitude and frequency of motion, could provide a route for future crop improvement
We used ray tracing (FastTracer3; Song et al, 2013) and an empirical model of photosynthesis parameterised by measurements of photosynthetic gas exchange to determine the differences in light dynamics and overall carbon gain of the canopy
Summary
Plant movement can be classed as autonomic (spontaneous) or occur as a biological response to stimuli. Movement most commonly refers to tropic, tactic, or nastic effects, which involve part of the plant, either an organ or organelle, responding to an external stimulus through processes of development. Despite its wide occurrence and a broad inter-disciplinary literature, there are many fundamental questions remaining concerning its effects on plant biology and especially photosynthesis. This class of movement can occur in response to touch and a certain amount is known at the molecular level about signaling events involved (Knight et al, 1992; Chehab et al, 2012). Mechanical canopy excitation is difficult to quantify and measure and hard to link to fundamental plant processes
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