Plant adaptation to drought

Understanding plant hydraulic response to drought is an important challenge to  improve predictions of vegetation to climate change. Recent observations showed that plants strategically adapt their physiological properties leading to different hydraulic behavior in the plant-soil-atmosphere system.

We investigate two main mechanisms that may explain the short-term and long-term response to drought

• The stomatal control: plant stomata are key organs, regulating simultaneously plant carbon acquisition and transpiration. We want to understand how this mechanism is affected by contrasted environments.

• The root:shoot ratio partitioning: plants develop their root and shoot fractions and conductances according to their environment. For example, in a dryer soil, plant will invest more in their roots and less in their shoots causing an increased root:shoot ratio with a decreasing soil conductance.

To confirm this theory, we are doing experiments in controlled conditions with different species, soils, water regimes and atmospheric conditions to characterize the main drivers of plant-soil hydraulic regulation.

Several master theses can be realized within this topic, either from an experimental or a modeling perspectives. Stays in Germany or Switzerland are possible.