Giulia Vico

Research Interests

Short time-scale plant physiological processes under environmental stress

Water stress

Detailed description of the impact of water stress on different biophysical and biochemical processes involved photosynthesis and transpiration at the leaf level and sub-daily time scale; upscaling at the plant level and daily time scale, linking plant activity to soil moisture dynamics

Light availability

Stochastic description of intermittent light availability inside canopies; quantification of the impact of large amplitude fluctuations in light regime (e.g., induced by sunflecks or passage of clouds) on photosynthesis, stomatal dynamics, carbon uptake, and ultimately plant productivity, by combining a meta-analysis of stomatal response to abrupt changes in light and a minimalist modeling approach

Water use in natural and managed ecosystems from daily to multi-year time scales

Eco-hydrological stochastic modeling

Stochastic description of soil moisture response to random hydro-climatic forcing, in natural and managed ecosystems, under a variety of demand-based irrigation schemes; assessment of the impact of irrigation methods on crop yield, economic return, available water resources, and soil salinization; quantification of climate-related agricultural risks (and hence food security); projections of water use patterns under different climatic and economic scenarios at large scale; coupling of eco-hydrologic dynamics and social processes, investigating the links among large scale climatic conditions, available resource, and patterns of food consumption and import/export.

Applications to seasonally-dry ecosystems

Environmental monitoring and stochastic modeling of natural and agricultural ecosystems in a case study site in north-eastern Brazil, towards sustainable use of water resources; extension to other seasonally-dry ecosystems

Landscape–scale ecosystem dynamics

Probabilistic representation of local and non-local landscape features; quantification of topographic controls on ecosystem fluxes and activities in a minimalistic (yet statistically and physically sound) framework

Publications

Papers in peer-reviewed international journals (please email me to request a reprint)

Vico G., and Porporato A., Probabilistic description of crop development and irrigation water requirements with stochastic rainfall, Water Resources Research, in press

Vico G., Revelli R., Porporato A., Ecohydrology of street trees: sustainable design and irrigation, Ecohydrology, in press

Manzoni S., Vico G., Katul G., Palmroth S., Jackson R.B., Porporato A., Hydraulic limits on maximum plant transpiration and the origin of the safety-efficiency tradeoff,New Phytologist, in press

Palmroth S., Katul G.G., Maier C.A., Ward E., Manzoni S., Vico G., On the complementary relationship between marginal nitrogen and water use efficiencies amongPinus taeda leaves grown under ambient and enriched CO2 environments, Annals of Botany, in press

Manzoni S., Vico G., A. Porporato, and G.G. Katul (2013). Biological constraints on water transport in the soil-plant-atmosphere system. Advances in Water Resources, 51, 1, 292-304, doi: 10.1016/j.advwatres.2012.03.016.

Konings A. G., Feng X., Molini A., Manzoni S., Vico G., and A. Porporato (2012). Thermodynamics of an idealized hydrologic cycle. Water Resources Research 48, W05527.

Feng X., Vico G., and Porporato A. (2012). On the effects of seasonality on soil water balance and plant growth, Water Resources Research, 48, W05543, doi:10.1029/2011WR011263

Vico G., Manzoni S., Palmroth S., and G.G. Katul (2011), Effects of stomatal delays on the economics of leaf gas exchange under intermittent light, New Phytologist, doi: 10.1111/j.1469-8137.2011.03847.x

Vico G., and A. Porporato (2011), From rainfed agriculture to stress-avoidance irrigation I. A generalized irrigation scheme with stochastic soil moisture, Advances in Water Resources, 34, 2, 263-271

Vico G., and A. Porporato (2011), From rainfed agriculture to stress-avoidance irrigation II. Sustainability, crop yield, and profitability, Advances in Water Resources, 34, 2, 272-281

Manzoni S., Vico G., Katul G.G., Fay P.A., Polley W., Palmroth S., and A. Porporato (2011), Optimizing stomatal conductance for maximum carbon gain under water stress: A meta-analysis across plant functional types and climates, Functional Ecology, 25, 3, 456-467, doi: 10.1111/j.1365-2435.2010.01822.x

Vico G. and A. Porporato (2010), Traditional and micro-irrigation with stochastic soil moisture, Water Resources Research, 46, W03509

Vico G., and A. Porporato (2009), Probabilistic description of topographic slope and aspect, Journal of Geophysical Research – Earth Surface, 114, F01011

Vico G., and A. Porporato (2008), Modelling C3 and C4 photosynthesis under-water stressed conditions, Plant and Soil, 313, 1-2, 187-203

Viola F., Daly E., Vico G., Cannarozzo M., and A. Porporato (2008), Transient soil-moisture dynamics and climate change in Mediterranean ecosystems, Water Resources Research, 44, 11, W11412

Porporato A., Vico G., and P.A. Fay (2006), Superstatistics of hydro-climatic fluctuations and interannual ecosystem productivity, Geophysical Research Letters, 33, L15402

Conference papers

Manzoni S., Vico G, Katul G., Palmroth S., Jackson R.B., and A. Porporato (2012). Hydraulic limits on maximum plant transpiration (Invited), 29th New Phytologist Symposium, Manchester, UK.

Vico G., and Porporato A. (2011), Probabilistic description of the hydrologic risk in agriculture, Abstract H13E-1253, presented at 2011 Fall Meeting, AGU, San Francisco, Calif., 5-9 Dec

Manzoni S., Vico G., Katul G.G., Palmroth S., Jackson R.B., and Porporato A. (2011), Hydraulic limits on maximum plant transpiration, Abstract B32D-03, presented at 2011 Fall Meeting, AGU, San Francisco, Calif., 5-9 Dec

Bartlett M., Laio F., Ridolfi L., Vico G., and  Porporato A. (2011), Statistical characteristics of topographic surfaces and dynamic smoothing of landscapes, Abstract EP43A-0661, presented at 2011 Fall Meeting, AGU, San Francisco, Calif., 5-9 Dec

Vico G., Danser P. (2011), Ecohydrology of natural and managed ecosystems in seasonally dry tropics: an application to North-Eastern Brazil, poster presentation at  "Ecohydrology and sustainability in seasonally dry ecosystems" International Workshop, Duke University, 13-14 June 2011

Vico G., and A. Porporato (2010), Sustainability, productivity, and profitability of agroecosystems under variable rainfall, Abstract H51G-04, presented at 2010 Fall Meeting, AGU, San Francisco, Calif., 13-17 Dec

Porporato A., Manzoni S., and G. Vico (2010), Integrating water, carbon, and nutrient cycling at the landscape scale (Invited), Abstract B22E-03, presented at 2010 Fall Meeting, AGU, San Francisco, Calif., 13-17 Dec

Porporato A., Vico G., and S. Manzoni (2010), Exploring the continuum between rainfed and stress-avoidance irrigation in seasonally-dry regions (Invited), Eos Trans. AGU, Joint Meet. Suppl, Abstract H31A-04

Porporato A., Vico G., and S. Manzoni (2010), Sustainable use of water resources and nutrients under stochastic rainfall variability: Eco-hydrology of managed ecosystems (Invited), Latsis Symposium 2010, EPFL, Lausanne, Switzerland

Porporato A., Manzoni S., Molini A., Rigby J.R., and G. Vico (2010), Biologically-defined extremes: survival and ecosystem shifts under climate change (Invited),Geophys. Res. Abstracts, Abstract 2010-14226

Porporato A., and G. Vico (2009), An eco-hydrological approach to sustainable irrigation of managed ecosystems (Invited), Eos Trans. AGU, 90, 52, Fall Meet. Suppl., Abstract H32B-04

Manzoni S., Vico G., Katul G.G., Fay P.A., Polley W., Palmroth S., and A. Porporato (2009), Optimal leaf water use drives ecosystem water and carbon fluxes in a changing environment (Invited), Eos Trans. AGU, 90, 52, Fall Meet. Suppl., Abstract H11I-02

Palmroth S., Katul G.G., Maier C.A., Ward E., Manzoni S., Vico G., and R. Oren (2009), On the complementary relationship between nitrogen and water use efficiencies among Pinus taeda L. leaves grown under ambient and enriched CO2 environments, Eos Trans. AGU, 90, 52, Fall Meet. Suppl., Abstract B43E-04

Vico G., Daly E., Manzoni S., and A. Porporato (2008), Effect of soil water content on soil thermal conductivity under field conditions, Eos Trans. AGU, 89, 53, Fall Meet. Suppl., Abstract H13A-0877

Vico G., and A. Porporato (2007), Linking slope, aspect and river network probabilistic structures, Eos Trans. AGU, 88, 23, Jt. Assem. Suppl., Abstract H53D-04

Vico G., and A. Porporato (2005), Variability at multiple time scales and statistics of hydrologic extremes, Eos Trans. AGU, 86, 18, Jt. Assem. Suppl., Abstract H43A-06

Vico G., Porporato A., Katul G., Albertson J., and I. Rodriguez-Iturbe (2003), Strategies of plant water use under stochastic hydrologic conditions, Eos Trans. AGU, 84, 46, Fall Meet. Suppl., Abstract B52A-1033