Project Detail

Mechanistic scaling of soil-plant hydrodynamics in the Earth System

Name:	Mechanistic scaling of soil-plant hydrodynamics in the Earth System
Researchers:	Bouda Martin (researcher)
Provider:
Number:	24-10375S
Realization from:	2024
Realization to:	2026
Summary:	Unresolved mechanisms in soil-plant hydrodynamics constrain the accuracy of hydroclimatic and vegetation dynamic prediction under climate change. We will address this knowledge gap by integrating a novel model of vegetation water uptake at site scale with field observations on root dynamics and water flows. Our model’s mechanistic representation of plant ecophysiology enables us to quantify its contributions to soil-plant-atmosphere water flows. We will apply this framework to observations of soil-vegetation hydrodynamics in beech and spruce forests at intensively instrumented sites. The resulting comprehensive process description will relate forest hydrodynamic functioning to tree growth and physiology. This mechanistic, quantitative description of hydrodynamic processes will form a robust predictive framework for soil moisture, transpiration, and limitation of photosynthesis by water availability. We will demonstrate its predictive capacity on a broader network of field sites, evaluating the hydraulic functioning and failure of beech and spruce forests in central Europe.