Search research articles

ABOUT JoVE

Overview Leadership Blog JoVE Help Center

AUTHORS

Publishing Process Editorial Board Scope & Policies Peer Review FAQ Submit

LIBRARIANS

Testimonials Subscriptions Access Resources Library Advisory Board FAQ

RESEARCH

JoVE Journal Methods Collections JoVE Encyclopedia of Experiments Archive

EDUCATION

JoVE Core JoVE Business JoVE Science Education JoVE Lab Manual Faculty Resource Center Faculty Site

Terms & Conditions of Use

Related Concept Videos

Water and Mineral Acquisition

Water and Mineral Acquisition

Specialized tissues in plant roots have evolved to capture water, minerals, and some ions from the soil. Roots exhibit a variety of branching patterns that facilitate this process. The outermost root cells have specialized structures called root hairs that increase the root surface, thus increasing soil contact. Water can passively cross into roots, as the concentration of water in the soil is higher than that of the root tissue. Minerals, in contrast, are actively transported into root cells.

Xylem and Transpiration-driven Transport of Resources

Xylem and Transpiration-driven Transport of Resources

The xylem of vascular plants distributes water and dissolved minerals that are taken up by the roots to the rest of the plant. The cells that transport xylem sap are dead upon maturity, and the movement of xylem sap is a passive process.

Basic Plant Anatomy: Roots, Stems, and Leaves

Basic Plant Anatomy: Roots, Stems, and Leaves

The primary organs of vascular plants are roots, stems, and leaves, but these structures can be highly variable, adapted for the specific needs and environment of different plant species.

Adaptations that Reduce Water Loss

Adaptations that Reduce Water Loss

Though evaporation from plant leaves drives transpiration, it also results in loss of water. Because water is critical for photosynthetic reactions and other cellular processes, evolutionary pressures on plants in different environments have driven the acquisition of adaptations that reduce water loss.

Responses to Drought and Flooding

Responses to Drought and Flooding

Water plays a significant role in the life cycle of plants. However, insufficient or excess of water can be detrimental and pose a serious threat to plants.

Light Acquisition

Light Acquisition

In order to produce glucose, plants need to capture sufficient light energy. Many modern plants have evolved leaves specialized for light acquisition. Leaves can be only millimeters in width or tens of meters wide, depending on the environment. Due to competition for sunlight, evolution has driven the evolution of increasingly larger leaves and taller plants, to avoid shading by their neighbors with contaminant elaboration of root architecture and mechanisms to transport water and nutrients.

You might also read

Related Articles

Articles linked to this work by shared authors, journal, and citation graph.

Sort by

Same author

Environmental influences and coordination of Rhododendron carbon and water economics at leaf and species scales.

Functional plant biology : FPB·2026

Same author

<i>Rhododendron minus</i> seedlings achieve similar performance across light environments with anthocyanin accumulation and architectural adjustments under light stress.

AoB PLANTS·2026

Same author

Site conditions but not intraspecific competition impact Eastern redcedar (Juniperus virginiana) sapling growth and physiology along a stress and latitude gradient.

Journal of plant research·2025

Same author

Living collections: Biodiversity cultivated at public gardens has the power to connect ecological questions and evolutionary context.

American journal of botany·2024

Same author

Evidence for Reductions in Physical and Chemical Plant Defense Traits in Island Flora.

Plants (Basel, Switzerland)·2024

Same author

Leaf habit and plant architecture integrate whole-plant economics and contextualize trait-climate associations within ecologically diverse genus <i>Rhododendron</i>.

AoB PLANTS·2024

Same journal

E3 ligase ATL17 is a key regulator of abscisic acid signaling that mediates AHG1 degradation in Arabidopsis thaliana.

The New phytologist·2026

Same journal

Drought and salinity stress remodel Asian rice (Oryza sativa) leaf development through cell-type-specific regulatory programs.

The New phytologist·2026

Same journal

Changes in photosynthesis and grazing facilitate growth of a mixotrophic protist under ocean acidification and warming.

The New phytologist·2026

Same journal

Opening the black box: in situ imaging of arbuscular mycorrhizal fungal structures in soil using synchrotron-based micro-CT.

The New phytologist·2026

Same journal

From knowledge graph to topological data analysis: a novel framework to analyze gene regulatory networks for tomato-multi-pathogen interactions.

The New phytologist·2026

Same journal

The signaling mechanism of phyA involves direct interaction with ATG8 to regulate HY5 autophagic degradation under nutrient starvation.

The New phytologist·2026

See all related articles

Search research articles

Related Experiment Video

Updated: Dec 4, 2025

Measurement of Leaf Hydraulic Conductance and Stomatal Conductance and Their Responses to Irradiance and Dehydration Using the Evaporative Flux Method EFM

Measurement of Leaf Hydraulic Conductance and Stomatal Conductance and Their Responses to Irradiance and Dehydration Using the Evaporative Flux Method EFM

Published on: December 31, 2012

Water in, water out: root form influences leaf function

Randall W Long¹, Juliana S Medeiros¹

¹Holden Arboretum, 9550 Sperry Rd, Kirtland, OH, 44094, USA.

The New Phytologist

|October 21, 2020

Summary

No abstract available in PubMed .

Keywords:

climate change hydraulic conductance leaf function plant functional traits root anatomy

More Related Videos

Relating Stomatal Conductance to Leaf Functional Traits

Relating Stomatal Conductance to Leaf Functional Traits

Published on: October 12, 2015

Imaging the Root Hair Morphology of Arabidopsis Seedlings in a Two-layer Microfluidic Platform

Imaging the Root Hair Morphology of Arabidopsis Seedlings in a Two-layer Microfluidic Platform

Published on: August 15, 2017

Related Experiment Videos

Last Updated: Dec 4, 2025

Measurement of Leaf Hydraulic Conductance and Stomatal Conductance and Their Responses to Irradiance and Dehydration Using the Evaporative Flux Method EFM

Measurement of Leaf Hydraulic Conductance and Stomatal Conductance and Their Responses to Irradiance and Dehydration Using the Evaporative Flux Method EFM

Published on: December 31, 2012

Relating Stomatal Conductance to Leaf Functional Traits

Relating Stomatal Conductance to Leaf Functional Traits

Published on: October 12, 2015

Imaging the Root Hair Morphology of Arabidopsis Seedlings in a Two-layer Microfluidic Platform

Imaging the Root Hair Morphology of Arabidopsis Seedlings in a Two-layer Microfluidic Platform

Published on: August 15, 2017