2024/05/10 by Jean V. Wilkening, Xue Feng, Todd E. Dawson +1 · 1 voice · 3 citations
Agricultural and Biological Sciences · Earth and Planetary Sciences · Environmental Science · #Plant Water Relations and Carbon Dynamics #Plant responses to water stress #Tree-ring climate responses
paper · pdf · doi:10.1111/pce.14937
openalex publication_date 2024/05/10 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · openalex updated_date 2026/07/28
Terrestrial water fluxes are substantially mediated by vegetation, while the distribution, growth, health, and mortality of plants are strongly influenced by the availability of water. These interactions, playing out across multiple spatial and temporal scales, link the disciplines of plant ecophysiology and ecohydrology. Despite this connection, the disciplines have provided complementary, but largely independent, perspectives on the soil-plant-atmosphere continuum since their crystallization as modern scientific disciplines in the late 20th century. This review traces the development of the two disciplines, from their respective origins in engineering and ecology, their largely independent growth and maturation, and the eventual development of common conceptual and quantitative frameworks. This common ground has allowed explicit coupling of the disciplines to better understand plant function. Case studies both illuminate the limitations of the disciplines working in isolation, and reveal the exciting possibilities created by consilience between the disciplines. The histories of the two disciplines suggest opportunities for new advances will arise from sharing methodologies, working across multiple levels of complexity, and leveraging new observational technologies. Practically, these exchanges can be supported by creating shared scientific spaces. This review argues that consilience and collaboration are essential for robust and evidence-based predictions and policy responses under global change.