WATER ASCENDS IN WOODY PLANTS: SO WHAT?

Abstract

Woody plants are often considered as static individuals, taking up water via the root system and losing it again via leaf transpiration. Quite boring one might conclude when considering that more than 95% of the water taken up by the roots is transpired by the leaves. But the story suddenly becomes much more intriguing when the dynamics happening during the ascent of water in woody plants are included. This keynote talk will elaborate on water transport in woody plants, highlighting where the dynamics come from, what the relevance is and which tissues are involved. The power to decipher water transport dynamics with plant-based measurements, where sap flow and stem diameter variations are at the forefront, will be illustrated. The concept of plant-based measurements will be complemented with a viewpoint on how sophisticated mechanistic water transport models can assist in plant-based irrigation scheduling or early warning and stress detection systems.