Faculty

KEN SHACKEL 3039 Wickson Hall (530) 752-0928 kashackel@ucdavis.edu

Ph.D.  (1982) Plant Physiology, University of California, Riverside.   Membership in Graduate Groups:  Horticulture & Agronomy Plant Biology Soil Science    More Information:  Fruit & Nut Research and Information Center

My research interests are primarily in the area of plant water relations, specifically the responses and adaptations of plants to water limited conditions. Even though it is well-established that water-limited conditions result in substantial plant water deficits and also cause profound changes in many processes important to yield (e.g., growth, development and regulation of leaf gas exchange) in most cases a straightforward dependence in any of these processes upon the level of plant water deficit has not been found. This limitation in our basic understanding of the nature of plant adaptation to water-limited conditions may also limit our ability to optimize tree crop performance with respect to factors such as irrigation practices. There are many examples of beneficial responses of plants to mild drought (e.g., the use of "deficit irrigation" in tree crops) but little is known regarding the physiological basis for these responses.

Since plant water relations is primarily a whole plant phenomenon, and the mechanisms by which plants are adapted to water-limited conditions have been shaped by the diurnal and seasonal patterns of water status which, under field conditions, are part of normal plant function. Thus field conditions are the most appropriate framework within which to study the relation between plant water deficits and plant function. In most cases, however, detailed physiological studies made within this framework will require the development of more reliable in situ methods for the measurement of plant water potential and/or its components. A more detailed understanding of water-related plant-environment interactions will lead to a better general understanding of the physiological consequences of plant water deficits themselves, and the nature of plant responses to water limited conditions.