Xylem resistance to embolism: presenting a simple diagnostic test for the open vessel artefact

What is it about?

Xylem vulnerability to embolism represents an essential trait for evaluating the impact of hydraulics in plant function and ecology. However, the artefactual reductions in <i>k</i> induced by the centrifugation techniques used for evaluating this trait underestimate embolism resistance of long-vesseled species. A simple test is suggested to avoid this open vessel artefact and to ensure the reliability of this technique in future studies.

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