The PSInet Plant Water Potential Database: advancing new perspectives on plant water status, traits, and hydraulic processes
Year: 2026
Type: preprint
Abstract: 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.
Authors: Jessica Guo, Ana Maria Restrepo Acevedo, Marvin Browne, Daniel M. Johnson, Katherine A. McCulloh, Jesse B. Nippert, Rafael Poyatos, Steven A. Kannenberg, Daniel P. Beverly, Arthur Endsley, Andrew F. Feldman, Alexandra G. Konings, Yanlan Liu, Jordi Martinez-Vilalta, William M. Hammond, Kevin R. Hultine, Lauren E.L. Lowman, Jeffrey S. Dukes, Julia K. Green, Lawren Sack, Nidhi Vinod, Jie Hu, Jean Allen, Caleb E. Adams, Henry D. Adams, Lucette L.A. Adet, Anthony Ambrose, Leander D.L. Anderegg, William R.L. Anderegg, Luiza Maria T. Aparecido, Ismael Aranda, Eduardo Arcoverde de Mattos, Eleinis Avila-Lovera, Kinzie C. Bailey, Dennis D. Baldocchi, Maoya Bassiouni, Enric Batllori, Berit E. Batterton, Taylor Baugh, Wendy L. Baxter, Michael C. Benson, Carl J. Bernacchi, Daniel Berveiller, Chris J. Blackman, Davis E. Blasini, Benjamin W. Blonder, Gil Bohrer, Damien Bonal, Ben Bond-Lamberty, Indra Boving, David D. Breshears, Mario Bretfeld, Craig R. Brodersen, Timothy J. Brodribb, Callum Bryant, Sandra J. Bucci, Erika R. Bucior, Maria C. Caldeira, Otavio C. Campoe, Laura V. Cano-Arboleda, Luisina M. Carbonell-Silletta, Amanda A. Cardoso, Raiza J. Castillo Argaez, David Chaparro, Brendan Choat, Deborah Corso, Sabrina Coste, Danielle Creek, Alex E. Crookshanks, Marcella Cross, Jessica L. Cruz, Teresa S. David, Kenneth J. Davidson, Renaud Decarsin, Maria Del Rey-Granado, Nicolas Delpierre, Sylvain Delzon, Renata M. Diaz, Lee T. Dickman, Frederic C. Do, Jean-Christophe Domec, Tingfa Dong, Avery W. Driscoll, Stefanie Dumberger, Cleiton B. Eller, Manuel Esperon-Rodriguez, Brent E. Ewers, Xue Feng, Victor Flo, Dulce Flores-Renteria, Patrick Fonti, Alicia Forner-Sales, Rafael S. Freitas, Nuria Garcia-Forner, Jess Gersony, Mana Gharun, Bruno O. Gimenez, Teresa E. Gimeno, Gregory R. Goldsmith, Ignacio Gonzalez-Fernandez, Sybil G. Gotsch, Anne Griebel, Charlotte Grossiord, Huade Guan, Joannes Guillemot, Simon Haberstroh, Christina A. Hackmann, Martina Hajickova, Erik P. Hamerlynck, Beatrice L. Harrison Day, Virginia Hernandez-Santana, Natan Holtzman, Louise A. Hosburgh, Jianbei Huang, Brett A. Huggett, Nicole M. Hughes, Valeriy Ivanov, Herve Jactel, Jaideep Joshi, Ansgar Kahmen, Lee A. Kalcsits, Medelin E. Kant, Lucy P. Kerhoulas, Tamir Klein, Anne Klosterhalfen, John F. Knowles, George Koch, Dan F. Koepke, Natalia Kowalska, Gabriel T. LaHue, Julien Lamour, Victor Lechuga, Sung-Ching Lee, Pedro A.M. Leite, Christoph Leuschner, Jean-Marc Limousin, Juan Carlos Linares, Raquel Lobo-do-Vale, Rosana Lopez, Ana Lopez-Ballesteros, Guillermo Lopez Castro, Cate Macinnis-Ng, Nicolas Martin-StPaul, Ashley M. Matheny, Ilaine S. Matos, Marie Matouskova, Nate McDowell, J. Patrick Megonigal, Patrick Meir, Maurizio Mencuccini, Sean T. Michaletz, Jose Carlos Miranda, Justine E.C. Missik, Teresa Moran-Lopez, Luna Morcillo, Kendalynn A. Morris, Malini Muthu Karpagam, Rachael H. Nolan, Kiona Ogle, Rafael S. Oliveira, Anna Jiselle S. Ongjoco, Elsa M. Ordway, Sharath S. Paligi, Sari Palmroth, Mohan Pandey, Robert E. Pangle, Drew M.P. Peltier, Josep Penuelas, Jennifer M.R. Peters, Richard L. Peters, Clara A. Pinto, R. Suzuky Pinto, Alexandria L. Pivovaroff, William T. Pockman, Quentin Ponette, Daniel L. Potts, Estela Quintero-Vallejo, Mukund P. Rao, Boris Rewald, Trent W. Robinett, Jesus Rodriguez-Calcerrada, Ido Rog, Alistair Rogers, Victor Rolo, Bruno H.P. Rosado, Lucy Rowland, Raquel Ruiz-Checa, Yann Salmon, Roberto L. Salomon, Adriana Sanchez, Leticia Sandoval, Louis S. Santiago, Cristina Santos da Silva, Gerard Sapes, Fabio Scarpa, Konstantin Schellenberg, Fabian G. Scholz, Russell L. Scott, Aabhas Senapati, Shawn P. Serbin, Hernan Serrano-Leon, Ankit Shekhar, Ladislav Sigut, Guillaume Simioni, Milos Simovic, William K. Smith, Kevin Soland, Gustavo C. Spanner, Clement Stahl, Zhongbo Su, Jennifer J. Swanson, Yidong Tong, Tonantzin Tarin, Matthew W. Tomazewski, Amy M. Trowbridge, Daphna Uni, Josef Urban, Coral del Mar Valle Rodriguez, Joseph G. Verfaillie, Alberto Vilagrosa, Lorenz Walthert, Lixin Wang, Wenzhi Wang, Nicholas D. Ward, Jay W. Wason, Christiane Werner, Adam G. West, Jason B. West, Virginia G. Williamson, Stephanie J. Wilson, Jeffrey D. Wood, Evan Wyers, Enrico A. Yepez, Yijian Zeng, Yao Zhang, Zhechen Zhang, Camille Ziegler, Kimberly A. Novick
Institutions: Harvey Mudd College, West Virginia University, Los Angeles County Department of Public Health, University of Georgia, University of Wisconsin–Madison, Kansas State University, Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona, Centre for Research on Ecology and Forestry Applications, Indiana University Bloomington, Indiana University, University of Montana, Goddard Space Flight Center, National Aeronautics and Space Administration, Earth System Science Interdisciplinary Center, University of Maryland, College Park, Stanford University, University of California, Los Angeles, University of Florida, Desert Botanical Garden, Wake Forest University, Carnegie Institution for Science, University of Arizona, University of California, Santa Barbara, The University of Texas at Austin, Washington State University, University of Utah, Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas, Instituto Nacional de Investigación y Tecnología Agraria y Alimentaria, Instituto de Ciencias Forestales, Universidade Federal do Rio de Janeiro, University of California, Berkeley, Oregon State University, Institut de Recerca de la Biodiversitat de la Universitat de Barcelona, Universitat de Barcelona, University of Texas at Austin Marine Science Institute, University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, University of Illinois System, Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique, Université Paris-Saclay, Ecologie, Société, Evolution, University of Tasmania, The Ohio State University, Institut National de Recherche pour l'Agriculture, l'Alimentation et l'Environnement, Silva, Joint Global Change Research Institute, Pacific Northwest National Laboratory, Kennesaw State University, Yale University, Australian National University, Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas, National University of Patagonia San Juan Bosco, North Carolina State University, University of Lisbon, Laboratório Associado TERRA, Universidade Federal de Lavras, Universidad de Antioquia, Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences, Western Sydney University, Université de Bordeaux, UMR BIOdiversity, GEnes & Communities, University of French Guiana, Ecologie des Forêts de Guyane, Norwegian University of Life Sciences, Columbia University, University of British Columbia, Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, Instituto Nacional de Investigação Agrária e Veterinária, Centro de Estudos Florestais, American Forests, Physique et Physiologie Intégratives de l'Arbre en Environnement Fluctuant, AgroParisTech, Cornell University, Cornell Lab of Ornithology, Los Alamos National Laboratory, Centre de Coopération Internationale en Recherche Agronomique pour le Développement, Institut Agro Montpellier, Ecologie fonctionnelle & biogéochimie des sols & des agro-systèmes, Institut de Recherche pour le Développement, Duke University, École Nationale Supérieure des Sciences Agronomiques de Bordeaux-Aquitaine, Yunnan University, Purdue University West Lafayette, University of Freiburg, Universidade Federal do Ceará, Bangor University, University of Wyoming, University of Minnesota, Secretaría de Ciencia, Humanidades, Tecnología e Innovación, Instituto Politécnico Nacional, Swiss Federal Institute for Forest, Snow and Landscape Research, Universidad Internacional de La Rioja, Smith College, University of Münster, Instituto Nacional de Pesquisas da Amazônia, Chapman University, Centro de Investigaciones Energéticas, Medioambientales y Tecnológicas, University of Kentucky, University of Technology Sydney, École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne, Flinders University, Université de Montpellier, University of Göttingen, Czech Academy of Sciences, Czech Academy of Sciences, Institute of Botany, Agricultural Research Service, United States Department of Agriculture, Max Planck Institute for Biogeochemistry, Bates College, High Point University, University of Michigan, International Institute for Applied Systems Analysis, Indian Institute of Technology Bombay, University of Basel, Cal Poly Humboldt, Weizmann Institute of Science, Montana State University, Northern Arizona University, Czech Academy of Sciences, Global Change Research Institute, Institut National Polytechnique de Toulouse, Centre de Recherche sur la Biodiversité et l'Environnement, Université de Toulouse, Universidad de Jaén, Instituto de Agricultura Sostenible, Stephen F. Austin State University, École Pratique des Hautes Études, Centre d'Écologie Fonctionnelle et Évolutive, Universidad Pablo de Olavide, University of Évora, Universidad Politécnica de Madrid, Centro de Investigación y Tecnología Agroalimentaria de Aragón, Estación Experimental de Aula Dei, Basque Centre for Climate Change, University of Auckland, Écologie des Forêts Méditerranéennes, Adelaide University, The University of Adelaide, Mendel University in Brno, Smithsonian Environmental Research Center, University of Edinburgh, Institució Catalana de Recerca i Estudis Avançats, Universidad de Oviedo, Instituto Mixto de Investigación en Biodiversidad, Mediterranean Center for Environmental Studies, Universidade Estadual de Campinas (UNICAMP), University of Helsinki, Deakin University, University of Nevada, Las Vegas, New Mexico State University, Technical University of Munich, Sonora Institute of Technology, Occidental College, University of New Mexico, UCLouvain, Buffalo State University, Universidad CES, Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory, University of Zurich, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, Universidad de Extremadura, Universidade do Estado do Rio de Janeiro, University of Exeter, Universidad del Rosario, University of Toledo, Smithsonian Institution, University of California, Riverside, Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute, Southwest Watershed Research Center, Indian Institute of Technology Kharagpur, International Institute for Geo-Information Science and Earth Observation, University of Twente, William & Mary, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, Ben-Gurion University of the Negev, University of Alicante, Indiana University Indianapolis, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Institute of Mountain Hazards and Environment, University of Washington, University of Maine, University of Cape Town, Texas A&M University, University of Missouri, Pitzer College, Peking University, National Centre for Groundwater Research and Training
Language: English
Subfield: Global and Planetary Change
Field: Environmental Science
Domain: Physical Sciences
Open Access status: green
Funder: National Science Foundation
OpenAlex ID: W7213559802