Sept 8, 2016: More than 100 renowned experts from 31 countries met in Potsdam to discuss new methods and applications of sensing plant water status in horticultural science. Under the auspices of the International Society of Horticultural Science (ISHS), the first Symposium on Sensing Plant Water Status - Methods and Applications in Horticultural Science (spws2016) was held at Potsdam University's campus Griebnitzsee from October 5 to 7, 2016. .
Water has always been a crucial and, in many cases, rare resource in horticultural production. But also in postharvest, water is an important aspect. Excessive water loss may increase waste and hence lead to economic and social problems. Consequently, comprehensive knowledge of plant water relations is essential to optimise plant production and, postharvest conditions during harvest, in storage, during handling and processing.
Bringing together experts from research and practice from the different field of water status research, the SWS2016 symposium for the first time provided a platform to exchange recent findings on established and new methods in sensing plant water status from all fields of relevance - considering the fundamentals of the methodology as well as helpful hints achieved in applications.
The scientific program included 44 oral and 25 poster presentations. It started with a keynote by Prof. Dr. Ken Shackel from UC Davis who presented an introduction in the basics of plant and horticultural perspectives of sensing and responding to water limited conditions. The second symposium day started with the keynote lecture of Prof. Dr. Hamlyn G. Jones, University Dundee. He discussed 'Opportunities and pitfalls in the use of thermal sensing for monitoring water stress and transpiration'. The third main lecture was given by Prof. Dr. ir. Kathy Steppe, University of Ghent, on 'Sap flow-dendrometer interactions as an avenue for plant drought stress detection'.
The Students Poster Award was given to Inken Rabbel from University of Bonn, Germany.
Proceedings of the symposium will be published as a volume of Acta Horticulturae.
The symposium was organized by ATB scientists Prof. Dr. Manuela Zude and Dr. Werner B. Herppich (ATB) in close collaboration with Prof. Dr. Sascha Oswald from the University of Potsdam. The symposium involved the ISHS Commission 'Irrigation and Plant Water Relations', and the Workgroups 'Water Supply and Irrigation' and 'Water Relations'.