Abstract
Research results on the effects of environmental factors on tree water use, growth, and water use efficiency vary latitudinally and geographically and the conclusions remain controversial. In this study, we investigated the tree transpiration (Et), basal area increment (BAI), and water use efficiency (WUE) of a typical plantation tree species, Schima superba, in South China, aiming to identify the dominant environmental factors in regulating and affecting the tree water use and growth. Datasets including the continuously measured sap flow and meteorological parameters, as well as the periodically measured diameter at breast height and height of observed sample trees, were collected during the period from 2008 to 2021. The redundancy analysis results indicated the significant effects of air temperature (T) and humidity (RH) on tree Et, BAI, and WUE. According to Pearson correlations among the environmental factors, we divided them into “Heat group” and “Water group”, and conducted the variation partitioning analysis. Results highlighted that it was the heat factors including air temperature and solar radiation rather than the water factors that explained the larger variations of Et, BAI, and WUE. The abundant total precipitation in South China and the ability to take advantage of deep soil moisture of S. Superba weakened the role of water but emphasized the effect of heat. Considering the current growth and the water use of S. superba, and the obvious climate changes in recent decades in South China, it is concluded that this species can maintain its growth under the current climate conditions. Overall, our study demonstrates a more important role of heat factors compared to water factors in regulating tree water use, growth and WUE in subtropical S. superba plantations, which could offer a promising implication for the management of subtropical plantations under future climate trajectories.
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