Leaf Hydraulics Research

We are interested in the pathway of water movement inside leaves. The bottlenecks for water flow through leaves has only recently been explored and there is a lot left to figure out! Since the leaf is the organ that is primarily responsible for controlling the water balance of the plant, this is a critical area of research.  Check back soon for some very cool images.....

Ponderosa pine needles. Upper left, cryoSEM of fully hydrated needle. Upper right, fluorescence image of vascular bundle of fully hydrated needle.   Lower left, cryoSEM of vascular bundle of mildly dehydrated needle (-1.4 MPa) and lower right cryoSEM of vascular bundle of severely dehydrated needle (-3.2 MPa), from Johnson et al. 2009.