Plants and water in a changing world: a physiological and ecological perspective

The reduction of greenhouse gases (GHGs) emission by replacing fossil energy stocks with carbon-neutral fuels is a major topic of the political and scientific debate on environmental sustainability. Such shift in energy sources is expected to curtail the accumulation rate of atmospheric CO₂, which is a strong infrared absorber and thus contributes to the global warming effect. Although such change would produce desirable outputs, the consequences of a drastic decrease in atmospheric CO₂ (the substrate of photosynthesis) should be carefully considered in the light of its potential impact on ecosystems stability and agricultural productivity. Indeed, plants regulate CO₂ uptake and water loss through the same anatomical structure: the leaf stomata. A reduced CO₂ availability is thus expected to enhance transpiration rate in plants decreasing their water use efficiency and imposing an increased water demand for both agricultural and wild ecosystems. We suggest that this largely underestimated issue should be duly considered when implementing policies that aim at the mitigation of global environmental changes and, at the same time, promote sustainable agricultural practices, include the preservation of biodiversity. Also, we underlie the important role(s) that modern biotechnology could play to tackle these global challenges by introducing new traits aimed at creating crop varieties with enhanced CO₂ capture and water- and light-use efficiency.