Current controversies and challenges in applying plant hydraulic techniques

The field of plant hydraulics has seen a renewed interest in recent years from various scientific disciplines, including not only plant scientists, but also climate modellers, foresters, and conservation biologists. It is clear that understanding and accurately measuring plant–water relations is highly relevant, especially when considering changes in plant distribution patterns due to climate change, feedbacks between vegetation and climate systems, crop productivity, and food security (Choat et al., 2012; Sheil, 2014). For instance, integration of plant hydraulic traits into dynamic global vegetation models has the potential to improve predictions of forest response to climate change. An international workshop on plant hydraulic techniques at Ulm University brought together 57 experts, including leading researchers from 16 countries worldwide.