Review: Modeling stomatal conductance

The transpiration rate of water though stomata, known as stomatal conductance or g_s is one of the most critical and regulated of plant physiological processes.  Buckley reviews recent progress on the development of comprehensive models of stomatal conductance, including the effect of soil moisture and air humidity, ABA synthesis and responses to light, CO₂ and temperature. He also describes kinetic-based modelling of guard cell osmotic potential. Although challenges remain, Buckley concludes “Both process- and optimization-based models of stomatal conductance have become far more tractable, compact, and transparently related to measurable biophysical parameters and, therefore, more useful for forward modelling, which may soon obviate the current empirical modelling paradigm and help bridge research outcomes across scales of enquiry in plant physiology and ecology.” Plant Physiol. 10.1104/pp.16.01772