Nighttime transpiration: does it contribute to water stress in grape?

Abstract

Climate change is driving the search for grapevine cultivars and/or rootstocks that use water more efficiently. Recently, there has been increasing attention on nighttime transpiration. The reasoning is simple. While daytime transpiration results from the necessity to have stomata open so the plant can take up carbon dioxide for photosynthesis, nighttime transpiration could be considered a “waste” of water since no photosynthesis occurs at night. So how significant is nighttime water use in grape, and does it serve some other purpose that benefits the vine?