ID: 613 / 38

Category: Symposia

Track: Pending

Proposed Symposium Title: XYLEM ANATOMY AS A CENTRAL HUB LINKING FLUID TRANSPORT PROCESSES FROM THE INDIVIDUAL PLANT LEVEL TO ECOSYSTEMS

Abstract: This symposium will focus on an integrated understanding of the central role of xylem anatomy in coordinating fluid transport at the whole plant level and the ecosystem level. While xylem sap is known to include liquid water, gas transport is equally relevant due to its functional link with photosynthesis, respiration, and embolism formation in conduits. The anatomy of xylem is known to determine the sap transport efficiency and safety of a plant, and tightly connected to its photosynthetic performance under variable environmental conditions. Yet, our understanding of the transport mechanisms under positive and negative pressure remain a long-term question in biology. Other important questions include, for instance, evolutionary changes in xylem anatomy across vascular plants, and how plants may fine-tune and adjust their xylem tissue to climate change, especially more extreme weather conditions. The presentations of this symposium aim to present a diverse range of novel, interdisciplinary findings on functional and evolutionary xylem anatomy. Special attention will be paid to multi-phase interactions in transport under positive and negative pressure, three-dimensional modelling of hydraulic pathways and porous cell walls, and evolutionary changes in woodiness of angiosperms. We also aim to discuss how hydraulic and anatomical data can be upscaled from the individual plant to the ecosystem level based on global databases and modelling approaches. Contributions related to gas transport such as methane or other gasses are also welcome, as well as more applied work on talking trees, or large-scale networks that continuously monitor tree and forest performance.

Speaker 1: H. Jochen Schenk California State University, Fullerton (USA) jschenk@fullerton.edu Positive nocturnal xylem pressure in plants

Speaker 2: Frederic Lens Leiden University (The Netherlands) frederic.lens@naturalis.nl The role of drought on the evolution of woodiness in flowering plants

Speaker 3: Steven Jansen Ulm University steven.jansen@uni-ulm.de From mechanisms of water transport under negative pressure to forest resilience against climate change

Topics (Up to three): Development and Structure

Topic 2: Ecophysiology

Topic 3: Global Change Ecology

Justification: This symposium on the structure and function of xylem anatomy is organized under the IAWA (International Association of Wood Anatomists) banner. The IAWA association has a long history of symposia at IBC meetings in the past, and we therefore hope to continue this tradition. Moreover, we are convinced that combining a mechanistic, whole-plant approach with an ecosystem and evolutionary focus is highly attractive to a broad and interdisciplinary audience.