Articles | Volume 21, issue 12
https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-21-6519-2017
© Author(s) 2017. This work is distributed under
the Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 License.
the Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 License.
https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-21-6519-2017
© Author(s) 2017. This work is distributed under
the Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 License.
the Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 License.
Research article
| 
21 Dec 2017
Research article |
| 21 Dec 2017
Water movement through plant roots – exact solutions of the water flow equation in roots with linear or exponential piecewise hydraulic properties
Félicien Meunier
CORRESPONDING AUTHOR
Earth and Life Institute – Environment, Université catholique de Louvain, Louvain-la-Neuve, Belgium
Valentin Couvreur
Earth and Life Institute – Agronomy, Université catholique de Louvain, Louvain-la-Neuve, Belgium
Xavier Draye
Earth and Life Institute – Agronomy, Université catholique de Louvain, Louvain-la-Neuve, Belgium
Mohsen Zarebanadkouki
Division of Soil Physics, University of Bayreuth, Germany
Jan Vanderborght
Forschungszentrum Juelich GmbH, Agrosphere (IBG-3), Juelich, Germany
Division of Soil and Water Management, KU Leuven, Leuven, Belgium
Mathieu Javaux
Earth and Life Institute – Environment, Université catholique de Louvain, Louvain-la-Neuve, Belgium
Forschungszentrum Juelich GmbH, Agrosphere (IBG-3), Juelich, Germany
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Zwieniecki, M. A., Thompson, M. V., and Holbrook, N. M.: Understanding the Hydraulics of Porous Pipes: Tradeoffs Between Water Uptake and Root Length Utilization, J. Plant Growth Regul., 21, 315–323, https://doi.org/10.1007/s00344-003-0008-9, 2002.
Short summary
To maintain its yield, a plant needs to transpire water that it acquires from the soil. A deep understanding of the mechanisms that lead to water uptake location and intensity is required to correctly simulate the water transfer in the soil to the atmosphere. This work presents novel and general solutions of the water flow equation in roots with varying hydraulic properties that deeply affect the uptake pattern and the transpiration rate and can be used in ecohydrological models.
To maintain its yield, a plant needs to transpire water that it acquires from the soil. A deep...
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