Eastern Africa exhibits bimodal rainfall consisting of long rains (March–May) and short rains
(October–December), changes in which have profound socioeconomic and environmental …

In the context of a recent massive increase in research on plant root functions and their
impact on the environment, root ecologists currently face many important challenges to keep …

In the past several decades, field studies have shown that woody plants can access
substantial volumes of water from the pores and fractures of bedrock,–. If, like soil moisture …

Woody vegetation in grasslands and savannas has increased worldwide over the past 100–
200 years. This phenomenon of “woody plant encroachment”(WPE) has been documented …

Widespread episodes of recent forest die-off have been tied to the occurrence of
anomalously warm droughts, although the underlying mechanisms remain inadequately …

Climate warming is changing the aboveground phenology of plants around the world.
However, the effects of warming on the belowground phenology of plants remain relatively …

The time that water takes to travel through the terrestrial hydrological cycle and the critical
zone is of great interest in Earth system sciences with broad implications for water quality …

Although the above and belowground sizes and shapes of plants strongly influence plant
competition, community structure, and plant–environment interactions, plant sizes and …

Root access to bedrock water storage or groundwater is an important trait allowing plant
survival in seasonally dry environments. However, the degree of coordination between …

Drought is a predominant cause of low yields worldwide. There is an urgent need for more
water efficient crop** systems facing large water consumption of irrigated agriculture and …