Mathematical and experimental investigation of water migration in plant xylem

Hong, Jiaju; Liu, Sheng; Glover, Paul; Wu, Shenyi; Yan, Yuying

Abstract

Plant can take water from soil up to several metres high. However, the mechanism of how water rises against gravity is still controversially discussed despite a few mechanisms have been proposed. Also, there still lacks of a critical transportation model because of the diversity and complex xylem structure of plants. This paper mainly focuses on the water transport process within xylem and a mathematical model is presented. With a simplified micro channel from xylem structure and the calculation using the model of water migration in xylem, this paper identified the relationship between various forces and water migration velocity. The velocity of water migration within the plant stem is considered as detail as possible using all major forces involved, and a full mathematical model is proposed to calculate and predict the velocity of water migration in plants. Using details of a specific plant, the velocity of water migration in the plant can be calculated, and then compared to the experimental result from Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI). The two results match perfectly to each other, indicating the accuracy of the mathematical model, thus the mathematical model should have brighter future in further applications.

Citation

Hong, J., Liu, S., Glover, P., Wu, S., & Yan, Y. (2017). Mathematical and experimental investigation of water migration in plant xylem. Journal of Bionic Engineering, 14(4), 622-630. https://doi.org/10.1016/S1672-6529%2816%2960428-6

• Journal Article Type: Article
• Acceptance Date: Sep 5, 2017
• Online Publication Date: Oct 20, 2017
• Publication Date: Oct 31, 2017
• Deposit Date: Sep 14, 2017
• Publicly Available Date: Oct 21, 2018
• Journal: Journal of Bionic Engineering
• Print ISSN: 1672-6529
• Electronic ISSN: 1672-6529
• Publisher: Elsevier
• Peer Reviewed: Peer Reviewed
• Volume: 14
• Issue: 4
• Pages: 622-630
• DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/S1672-6529%2816%2960428-6
• Keywords: Plant water migration, mathematical model, MRI, bionic
• Public URL: https://nottingham-repository.worktribe.com/output/888766
• Publisher URL: https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1672652916604286