Studies of plant hydraulics and water relations in Mexican environments: adaptation, physiology, and applications

Abstract

Given the outstanding global progress of research on the hydraulic pathway in plants, and its important role as an indicator of plant mortality risk, we reviewed: (1) the adaptive basis of hydraulic traits and their importance for overall plant function; (2) the number of primary scientific articles on plant hydraulics that have been produced in Mexico in the last 40 years, (3) research related to specific environments in Mexico, and (4) the possible applications of plant hydraulics to natural resource management. Our systematic review included 83 articles. The number of publications per year steadily increased over time, reaching its maximum in 2021. Veracruz and Yucatán are the states where the majority of scientific articles on plant hydraulics have been produced, but for most states less than two publications on this subject appeared in ca. 40 years, and none was found for Oaxaca and Chiapas, the most biodiverse states. In plant hydraulics, the most studied biome in Mexico was the tropical dry forest, followed by crops; trees were the most studied growth-form, followed by herbaceous crops and epiphytes. We point to the need of enhancing research in the interface between plant hydraulic function and remote sensing, as well as developing applications in adaptive forest management and ecological restoration. We hope that this review may ignite a national collaborative effort to quantify critical traits that could inform the hydraulic functioning of Mexican ecosystems, particularly in the underrepresented and highly diverse states of Mexico.