The inaugural lesson will be broadcast live via this link
The magic power of water in plants under climate change
Water is life! Tiny water molecules embark on a fascinating journey through plants, holding the key to plant growth and supporting the crucial connection between the soil and the atmosphere. Yet, plants worldwide are increasingly affected by human-induced climate change, not only impacting their own health but all life on Earth. How plants respond to these stresses affects their ability to transport water, influencing local climate and their own growth and carbon sequestration. Understanding how intensification of these stresses impacts the functioning of plants and their future is a major scientific challenge that requires new insights into plant ecophysiology and technology to assess their health. Identifying critical thresholds that indicate a plant's transition from a healthy state to distress is especially crucial.
In this Francqui inaugural lecture, cutting-edge plant sensor technology to monitor real-time water transport, growth, and vulnerability to drought will be highlighted, and the underlying mechanisms governing dynamic plant water transport explored. Equipped with a set of sensors and mechanistic models operating in the background, plants can become our planet’s biological indicators, providing live updates on their health status. This innovation drives the global tree monitoring and modelling network TreeWatch.net. Additionally, the lecture will delve into exciting findings on how drought and elevated CO2 levels influence plant water transport and growth. These new insights are essential for advancing next-generation global vegetation models, going beyond just leaf photosynthesis, by incorporating the magic of plant water transport dynamics as a critical component when simulating future climate scenarios with a more extreme hydrological cycle.