The significance of leaf water repellency in ecohydrological research: a review

Abstract

Numerous studies in materials science and chemistry have expanded our understanding of the repellency of water droplets from surfaces. Much of the inspiration for the development of synthetic water‐repellent materials came from the examination of water‐repellent properties of animals and plants in the natural environment. The hydrological significance of water repellency in the natural environment remains an underexplored research topic. Although the hydrological significance of soil water repellency has become well established in the ecohydrology and water resources literature, fewer studies have examined the significance of leaf water repellency. This review examines the properties of leaf water repellency, the methodologies used to calculate leaf water repellency, the leaf surface properties that promote leaf water repellency, and the significance of leaf water repellency in ecohydrological research. The repellency of a water droplet by a leaf surface is functionally important among plant species and may reflect selective strategies that either favour leaf water uptake in drought‐prone environments or promote higher photosynthetic efficiency during prolonged periods of precipitation through higher repellency. Information on the functional significance of leaf water repellency in hydrologic models could enhance our understanding of the delivery of water resources to municipal reservoirs and fill in a missing gap in our understanding of leaf water repellency as a process that influences discharge, and by extension, water resources. Copyright © 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Seasonal variability of interception and water wettability of common oak leaves

“…Methodology and terminology used to describe the parameters of the drops' contact with the surface, is in agreement with the commonly used one (Nanco et al 2013, Rosado & Holder 2013.…”

“…This is a topic of a growing interest for plant ecophysiology (Helliker & Griffiths 2007, Limm & Dawson 2010, Berry et al 2014, Rosado & Holder 2013, Berry et al 2013, Helliker 2014 as they may play an important ecophysiological role.…”

“…Calder (1999) and then Chen et al (2013) suggested the possibility of retaining about 10-50% of the total precipitation on the surface of leaves. When assessing the interception, it is necessary to consider the impact of factors related to both, misted surface (Tranqada & Erb 2014, Rosado & Holder 2013, Fernandez & Eicherd 2009 and the characteristics of the precipitation (Nanko et al 2006, Klamerus-Iwan 2014a. Gash et al (1995), Klaassen et al (1998), Liu (1997), Chang (2006) determined the retention possibility of crowns of deciduous and coniferous trees within 0.5-8.2 mm.…”

Wettability, Polarity, and Water Absorption of Holm Oak Leaves: Effect of Leaf Side and Age

“…Such surface features together with their chemical composition (Khayet and Fernández, 2012) may lead to a high degree of roughness and hydrophobicity (Koch and Barthlott, 2009;Konrad et al, 2012). The interactions of plant surfaces with water have been addressed in some investigations (Brewer et al, 1991;Brewer and Smith, 1997;Pandey and Nagar, 2003;Hanba et al, 2004;Dietz et al, 2007;Holder, 2007aHolder, , 2007bFernández et al, 2011Fernández et al, , 2014Roth-Nebelsick et al, 2012;Wen et al, 2012;Urrego-Pereira et al, 2013) and are a topic of growing interest for plant ecophysiology (Helliker and Griffiths, 2007;Aryal and Neuner, 2010;Limm and Dawson, 2010;Kim and Lee, 2011;Berry and Smith, 2012;Berry et al, 2013;Rosado and Holder, 2013;Helliker, 2014). On the other hand, the mechanisms of foliar uptake of water and solutes by plant surfaces are still not fully understood (Fernández and Eichert, 2009;Burkhardt and Hunsche, 2013), but they may play an important ecophysiological role (Limm et al, 2009;Johnstone and Dawson, 2010;Adamec, 2013;Berry et al, 2014).…”

Contact angle measurements and water drop behavior on leaf surface for several deciduous shrub and tree species from a temperate zone

“…The presence of water drops on the leaf surface may also act as a photosynthetic inhibitor due to the fact that carbon dioxide penetrates stomata 10,000 times slower in the presence of water than in the presence of air (Brewer and Smith 1997). Therefore, high leaf water repellency (LWR) may help the plants to survive through periods of prolonged rainfalls (Brewer et al 1991;Hanba et al 2004;Rosado and Holder 2013). The leaf surface plays a significant role in protecting the plant against many biotic and abiotic threats.…”