Biologist looks into how native plants survive in the driest soil

What limits the ability of plants to draw water from dry soil? That is the question Cal State Fullerton plant biologist H. Jochen Schenk and his international research collaborators asked in an effort to solve the mystery of how plants suck water from the driest soil. In their study, the researchers found why plants can’t survive and function in this dry soil, including the physical limits to the amount of suction plants can produce to move water up to their leaves.