In a recent article, Rickard et al. (2025) proposed a novel approach to estimate root water uptake in field-grown plants by integrating soil moisture dynamics with root hydraulic traits. Their effort to bridge soil physical processes and plant hydraulic functioning represents a timely and important contribution to plant ecohydrology. Burks HF performed numerical simulation, analysis, and visualization and completed the initial draft; all authors participated in manuscript writing and editing. The MOIST source code is publicly available in Fu et al. (2025) (doi: 10.1029/2024WR037068). Field data used in this study are publicly available from Rickard et al. (2025) (doi: 10.1111/nph.70013) and Stumpp et al. (2012) (doi: 10.2136/vzj2011.0075). The New Phytologist Foundation remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in maps and in any institutional affiliations.
Fu et al. (Fri,) studied this question.