Raquel Lobo-Do-Vale

Water potential gradients drive water flow within and between soils and plants, and the internal plant water potential controls a wide range of physiological processes including photosynthesis, growth, and mortality. Notwithstanding this clear relevance for many critical aspects of ecosystem function, water potential data have historically been relatively inaccessible and unnetworked. The absence of a centralized repository for plant water potential time series limits our ability to integrate a wealth of ecophysiological information from other networks and from remote sensing. Closing this gap is necessary to address unresolved questions about plant responses to drought and heat stress, and to make confident predictions about plant and ecosystem function in a warming world. Here, we introduce the PSInet database -- a global collection of plant water potential time series from 285 datasets representing 523 species. We present the workflow that guided database development and evaluate its key features. Through a series of preliminary analyses, we then highlight the potential of the PSInet database for applications including: a) advancing plant water use strategy frameworks; b) disentangling the impacts of soil versus atmospheric drought stress; c) assessing the long-held assumption of pre-dawn equilibration of ecosystem water potential; d) understanding the risk of drought-driven mortality; and e) benchmarking remote-sensing data products and land-surface models.

Purpose of the Review: This semi-systematic review examines how augmented reality (AR) was developed and applied in forestry between 2000 and 2025. With a European focus and international scope, it integrates peer-reviewed literature, grey literature, and commercially available tools to capture progress and practice. It maps AR use cases, characterises hardware, software, and data pipelines, assesses Technology Readiness Levels, and identifies barriers, research gaps, and priorities for future deployment. Recent Findings: AR in forestry is moving from isolated prototypes towards early operational implementation. The most mature applications are found in forest inventory, urban forestry, and roundwood measurement, where smartphone- and tablet-based tools using Light Detection and Ranging (LiDAR), Red, Green, Blue, and Depth (RGB-D) sensing, Simultaneous Localisation and Mapping (SLAM), and computer vision have reached moderate to high readiness, with some commercially deployed. Head-mounted displays and machine-integrated systems are being tested for stand visualisation, digital tree marking, planting guidance, and harvesting support, but most remain at pilot stage. Most systems cluster around TRL 4–6, while only a limited subset reaches TRL 7–9. Summary: AR in forestry is a heterogeneous but rapidly evolving ecosystem of mobile, wearable, and machine-integrated solutions. Persistent barriers include under-canopy tracking instability, weak georeferencing, limited ruggedness and battery life, ergonomic constraints, poor interoperability, and limited validation. AR nevertheless shows strong potential as a human-centred interface, but wider deployment will require forest-adapted localisation, lightweight 3D visualisation, stronger system integration, and closer collaboration across stakeholders.

Raquel Lobo-Do-Vale, H Jochen Schenk, Angelika Kübert, Anna Lintunen, Maurizio Mencuccini; Gas phase in plants: integrating physiology, ecology, and enviro

Mediterranean ecosystems are threatened by climate change and shrub encroachment. An increase in shrub cover can intensify the competition for water, aggravating the impacts of drought on ecosystem functioning. The effects of shrubs can be positive or negative, depending on the shrub species and density. We used a Mediterranean cork oak (Quercus suber) woodland to investigate the effects of increasing gum rockrose (Cistus ladanifer) cover on leaf carbon assimilation (A_max) and tree growth. The experiment consisted of a gradient of shrub cover, with four treatments: control, LD, MD, and HD, with 0%, 25%, 45%, and maximum shrub cover (>90%), respectively. Increasing shrub cover significantly decreased A_max in trees from HD (−15%) compared to control treatment, with intermediate effects on trees from LD (−5%) and MD (−12%). There was a large variability in tree growth, resulting in no significant effects of shrub cover, despite higher trunk diameter relative increments in LD (+40%), and lower in MD (−17%) and HD (−32%) compared to the control. The results indicate that a dense shrub cover (>90%) affected cork oak carbon assimilation and growth, while a low-to-medium shrub cover (≤45%) only induced mild intermediate effects. This information is important for the effective management of shrub density to improve the health and productivity of cork oak woodlands.

Mediterranean ecosystems face threats from both climate change and shrub invasion. As shrub cover increases, competition for water intensifies, exacerbating the negative effects of drought on ecosystem functioning. However, research into the combined effects of drought and shrub invasion on tree carbon assimilation has been limited. We used a Mediterranean cork oak (Quercus suber) woodland to investigate the effects of drought and shrub invasion by gum rockrose (Cistus ladanifer) on cork oak carbon assimilation and photosynthetic capacity. We established a factorial experiment of imposed drought (ambient and rain exclusion) and shrub invasion (invaded and non-invaded) and measured leaf water potential, stomatal conductance and photosynthesis as well as photosynthetic capacity in cork oak and gum rockrose over one year. We observed distinct detrimental effects of gum rockrose shrub invasion on the physiological responses of cork oak trees throughout the study period. Despite the imposed drought, the impact of shrub invasion was more pronounced, resulting in significant photosynthetic capacity reduction of 57% during summer. Stomatal and non-stomatal limitations were observed under moderate drought in both species. Our findings provide significant knowledge on the impact of gum rockrose invasion on the functioning of cork oak and can be used to improve the representation of photosynthesis in terrestrial biosphere models.

Understanding of plant hydraulic strategies (i.e. the degree of iso‐/anisohydricity) is crucial to predict the response of plants to changing environmental conditions such as climate‐change induced extreme drought. Several abiotic factors, including evaporative demand, have been shown to seasonally modify the isohydricity of plants. However, the impact of biotic factors such as plant–plant interactions on hydraulic strategies has seldom been explored. Here, we investigated adaptations and changes in hydraulic strategies of two woody species in response to seasonal abiotic conditions, experimental drought and plant invasion in a Mediterranean cork oak (Quercus suber) ecosystem with a combined shrub invasion (Cistus ladanifer) and rain exclusion experiment. From the dry to wet season, Q. suber shifted from a partial isohydric to an anisohydric behaviour while C. ladanifer shifted from strict anisohydric to partial isohydric. During drought, water competition by plant invasion significantly modified the hydraulic strategy of invaded Q. suber, which was accompanied by lower pre‐dawn leaf water potentials, sap flow density, leaf area index and trunk increment rates. This altered isohydricity of invaded Q. suber trees was most likely caused by interspecific competition for water resources by water spending C. ladanifer shrubs. Both species do have the highest proportion of fine roots in the topsoil and thus, an additional water consumer, such as C. ladanifer can lead to more stressful conditions for Q. suber during times of water scarcity. Further underlying mechanisms of the altered isohydricity of Q. suber, such as potential allelopathic effects of C. ladanifer exudates on root growth of Q. suber, have to be investigated in the future. In conclusion, we demonstrate that the degree of isohydricity of two woody Mediterranean plant species is dynamically determined by the interplay of species‐specific hydraulic traits and their abiotic and biotic environment. Read the free Plain Language Summary for this article on the Journal blog.

The impact of various environmental stressors, such as plant invasion and extreme drought is increasing in many ecosystems around the globe. Mediterranean ecosystems have especially been affected by both stressors in recent decades. Thus, we conducted a precipitation and shrub invasion manipulation experiment in a Mediterranean cork oak (Quercus suber L.) ecosystem in Portugal. The impact of both stressors (i.e. drought and invasion) as well as their interaction  on cork oak functioning was investigated, resulting  in four experimental treatments: 1) control trees, 2) trees with a rain exclusion of 45%, 3) trees invaded by the shrub Cistus ladanifer and 4) trees invaded by C. ladanifer combined with rain exclusion. Each of the four treatments was replicated in three spatially separated blocks. In total 36 trees (9 per treatment) and 18 shrubs (9 per treatment) were selected randomly for measurements between October 2017 and March 2020.Invaded trees, independent of the rain exclusion, had lower leaf area index (LAI) and growth rates (trunk increment). Further changes in the relationship of pre-dawn and midday leaf water potential elucidated that competition by shrubs shifted the hydraulic behaviour of invaded trees to a more anisohydric strategy compared to non-invaded cork oaks during summer drought. These negative impacts of shrub invasion had also an effect on transpiration rates of trees, but the extent was dependent on annual precipitation. In the wet year 2018, transpiration rates of trees in all four treatments were similar due to replenished soil water resources. However, in 2019, when precipitation was strongly reduced (ambient: –25%, rain exclusion: –50%), trees under invasion and rain exclusion reduced their transpiration by 47% compared to control trees, which was stronger than the reduction caused by a single stressor (amplifying interaction). However, shrubs under the rain exclusion also suffered from the extreme drought and were not able to recover in the following autumn/winter period, releasing trees from a strong competition (buffering interaction). On the other hand, shrubs under ambient precipitation were highly competitive in the same recovery period and strongly delayed tree transpiration recovery (–51% compared to control). Consequently, extreme drought and shrub invasion interacted buffering in this recovery period after the extreme drought event. In conclusion, the lessons learned from this manipulation experiment are 1) that shrub invasion has a negative impact on the functioning of cork oak trees and 2) the magnitude of this negative impact is dependent on the predominant environmental conditions (i.e. precipitation amount), which can lead to amplifying, neutral or buffering effects of drought and invasion.

Summary: Interaction effects of different stressors, such as extreme drought and plant invasion, can have detrimental effects on ecosystem functioning and recovery after drought. With ongoing climate change and increasing plant invasion, there is an urgent need to predict the short‐ and long‐term interaction impacts of these stressors on ecosystems. We established a combined precipitation exclusion and shrub invasion (Cistus ladanifer) experiment in a Mediterranean cork oak (Quercus suber) ecosystem with four treatments: (1)Q. subercontrol; (2)Q. suberwith rain exclusion; (3)Q. suberinvaded by shrubs; and (4)Q. suberwith rain exclusion and shrub invasion. As key parameter, we continuously measured ecosystem water fluxes. In an average precipitation year, the interaction effects of both stressors were neutral. However, the combination of imposed drought and shrub invasion led to amplifying interaction effects during an extreme drought by strongly reducing tree transpiration. Contrarily, the imposed drought reduced the competitiveness of the shrubs in the following recovery period, which buffered the negative effects of shrub invasion onQ. suber. Our results demonstrate the highly dynamic and nonlinear effects of interacting stressors on ecosystems and urges for further investigations on biotic interactions in a context of climate change pressures.