Quantifying plant movement in the field

Authors: Heuschele, Deborah - Jo; FURTURA, DAN - University Of Minnesota; SMITH, KEVIN - University Of Minnesota; MARCHETTO, PETER - University Of Minnesota

Submitted to: Annual Meeting of Society of Integrative and Comparative Biology
Publication Type: Abstract Only
Publication Acceptance Date: 1/3/2022
Publication Date: 1/6/2022
Citation: Heuschele, D.J., Furtura, D., Smith, K.P., Marchetto, P. 2022. Quantifying plant movement in the field[abstract]. Annual Meeting of Society of Integrative and Comparative Biology. January 3-6, 2022, Phoenix, Arizona..

Interpretive Summary:

Technical Abstract: Lodging of small grains to environmental stresses results in yield loss, quality reduction, and difficulties with mechanical harvesting which lead to economic consequences. New technological discoveries are allowing for faster and in situ measurements for determining the mechanics of loading stress and plant movement. The overall measurement of plant movement can be a very sophisticated method to mechanically test and predict the behavior of stems when exposed to wind. We investigated the inertial measurement of plants during different magnitude wind events. This type of analysis captures real time quantitative stem behavior during wind events. Using a 1.5 cm2 IMU attached to the upper panicle of a plant, we recorded the ranges and extremes of instantaneous linear acceleration and rotational velocity. When this technology was applied to historically know varieties of different lodging classification, the measurements were able to distinguish the differences between movement of lodging susceptible and resistant plants without physical lodging.