Desiccation resistance, the ability of an organism to reduce water loss, is an essential trait in arid habitats. Drought frequency in tropical regions is predicted to increase with climate change, and small ectotherms are often under a strong desiccation risk. We tested hypotheses regarding the underexplored desiccation potential of tropical insects. We measured desiccation resistance in 82 ant...

Stably stratified canopy flow in complex terrain has been considered a difficult condition for measuring net ecosystem–atmosphere exchanges of carbon, water vapor, and energy. A long-standing advection error in eddy-flux measurements is caused by stably stratified canopy flow. Such a condition with strong thermal gradient and less turbulent air is also difficult for modeling. To understand the ...

Epiphytes that grow in the canopies of tropical and subtropical forests experience different water regimes when compared with terrestrial plants. However, the differences in adaptive strategies between epiphytic and terrestrial plants with respect to plant water relations remain poorly understood. To understand how water-related traits contrast between epiphytic and terrestrial growth forms wit...

Ecosystem models have difficulty predicting plant drought responses, partially from uncertainty in the stomatal response to water deficits in soil and atmosphere. We evaluate a 'supply-demand' theory for water-limited stomatal behavior that avoids the typical scaffold of empirical response functions. The premise is that canopy water demand is regulated in proportion to threat to supply posed by...

The circulation of water through the Earth system is of critical importance to life on Earth. The hydrological cycle is also intimately linked to the energy cycle and to biogeochemical processes including the carbon cycle. Simulating the various processes that interact to form the hydrological cycle is a daunting task for climate models. In particular, over land, interactions between precipitat...

Many aspects of plant water use -- particularly in response to soil drought -- may have as their basis the alteration of hydraulic conductance from soil to canopy. The regulation of plant water potential (Psi) by stomatal control and leaf area adjustment may be necessary to maximize water uptake on the one hand, while avoiding loss of hydraulic contact with the soil water on the other. Modellin...

The lowlands in northeast Germany are among the driest and at the same time the most densely wooded regions in Germany. Low annual precipitation between 500 and 600 mm and the light sandy soils with their low water storage capacity and high porosity lead to limited water availability. Therefore the hydrological functions of forests play an important role in the fields of regional water budget, ...

in order to decrease water consumption in agricultural sector, deficit irrigation has been suggested. for preventing a heavy loss in crop yield, management of water stress is essential. common methods for measuring plant water stress such as stomatal conductance are time-consuming and require specialized labor and a large number of measurement. temperature of leaf or canopy surface can be an in...

Agricultural aircraft and unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) are easily scheduled and accessible remote sensing platforms. Canopy temperature data for crop stress analysis were obtained with an Electrophysics PV-320T thermal imaging camera mounted in agricultural aircraft. Weather data and soil water potential were monitored and thermal images were analyzed for canopy temperature trends accounting...