Engineering Commons^™

Hydraulic Redistribution Under Saline Conditions, Josh Gottlieb

Civil and Environmental Engineering Undergraduate Honors Theses

Water scarcity and soil salinity are dual stressors for plants in arid, salt-affected ecosystems. Hydraulic redistribution, a hydraulic adaptation which moves water through plant roots into dry or saline soil regions along potential gradients, aids plant survival in stressful environments. Recent theory regarding hydraulic redistribution proposes limitations on the process within saline soils. This study applies a minimalist resistor-capacitor model of the soil-plant-atmosphere system to the experimental conditions of a 2010 study investigating hydraulic redistribution in a salt affected area. The effectiveness of the model is evaluated, and a sensitivity analysis is conducted to identify key dynamics affecting the moisture …