About 500 My ago, the major challenge faced by the first terrestrial plant was the
acquisition of water resources. Nowadays, water availability is still one of the main
environmental factors shaping the evolution of terrestrial plants. Hence, the study of
the ability of different plant species to extract water from the soil is crucial to
understand terrestrial ecosystems. However, the assessment of root distribution and
activity relies mainly on destructive and labour-intensive methods, which are not the

Continuando con la promoción de las RR.II. como disciplina académica autónoma, algo que existe en muchos países, en particular anglo-sajones pero también escandinavos o latinoamericanos, Stelios Stavridis, investigador senior ARAID/Universidad de Zaragoza: