We investigated the role of xylem cavitation, plant hydraulic conductance, and root pressure in the response of rice (Oryza sativa) gas exchange to water stress. In the field (Philippines), the percentage loss of xylem conductivity (PLC) from cavitation exceeded 60% in leaves even in watered controls. The PLC versus leaf water potential relationship indicated diurnal refilling of cavitated xyle...

A description and analysis is given of a wetness duration experiment, carried out in a potato field in the centre of the Netherlands in September 2005. The observations are used to design and evaluate a within-canopy dew model which provides the leaf wetness distribution within the canopy caused by dew processes and by precipitation. This withincanopy dew model consists of three layers (bottom,...

The transport of water, sugar, and nutrients in trees is restricted to specific vascular pathways, and thus organs may be relatively isolated from one another (i.e. sectored). Strongly sectored leaf-to-leaf pathways have been shown for the transport of sugar and signal molecules within a shoot, but not previously for water transport. The hydraulic sectoriality of leaf-to-leaf pathways was deter...

Salt marshes are among the most productive ecosystems in the world, performing important ecosystem functions, particularly nutrient recycling. In this study, a comparison is made between Mondego and Tagus estuaries in relation to the role of Spartina maritima in nitrogen retention capacity and cycling. Two mono-specific S. maritima stands per estuary were studied during 1yr (biomass, nitrogen (...

Increased transpiration efficiency (the ratio of biomass to water transpired, TE) could lead to increased drought tolerance under some water deficit scenarios. Intrinsic (i.e., leaf-level) TE is usually considered as the primary source of variation in whole-plant TE, but empirical data usually contradict this assumption. Sunflower has a significant variability in TE, but a better knowledge of t...

Whether you're experiencing abdominal bloating, excess gas, or the burping blues, there are many possible causes of your discomfort. Water retention, also known as edema, is an accumulation of extra fluid that?s commonly caused by a temporary imbalance in your electrolyte [2] and fluid levels. While you're right that a diet high in sodium may lead to bloating, it's not the only cause. It could ...

Whether you're experiencing abdominal bloating, excess gas, or the burping blues, there are many possible causes of your discomfort. Water retention, also known as edema, is an accumulation of extra fluid that?s commonly caused by a temporary imbalance in your electrolyte [2] and fluid levels. While you're right that a diet high in sodium may lead to bloating, it's not the only cause. It could ...

The penetration rates of 10 hydrophobic solvents through the excised abdominal rat skin were quantitatively determined by using the in vitro method reported previously. The hydrophobic solvents studied were benzene, toluene, ethylbenzene, o-xylene, styrene, n-pentane, 2-methylpentane, n-hexane, n-heptane and n-octane. There was a great diversity in the ability of the hydrophobic solvents to pen...

The Craig-Gordon evaporative enrichment model of the hydrogen (deltaD) and oxygen (delta(18)O) isotopes of water was tested in a controlled-environment gas exchange cuvette over a wide range (400 per thousand deltaD and 40 per thousand delta(18)O) of leaf waters. (Throughout this paper we use the term "leaf water" to describe the site of evaporation, which should not be confused with "bulk leaf...

There is more than metaphorical appeal to the thought that humanity feeds off the sweat of vascular plants. This statement has factual grounds in the sense that plant water loss by transpiration is an inevitable companion to the photosynthetic process that nourishes the human population. A fascinating corollary of this linkage between water and carbon is that leaf productivity in well-watered p...