Sap flow of Castanopsis jianfengensis and its relationship with environmental factors in a tropical montane rainforest

Abstract

Using thermal dissipation and the ICT-2000TE equipment made in Australia, the sap flow of Castanopsis jianfengensis and various environmental factors were measured simultaneously in a mixed tropical montane rainforest at Jianfengling Nature Forest Reserve (18°369′N, 108°52′E, 860 m elevation) during the dry and rainy seasons of 2002. The results show that sap flow velocity of C. jianfengensis exhibited a monopeak pattern on clear days and a multi-peak pattern on cloudy or rainy days. Sap flow velocity had significant positive correlations with solar radiation, air temperature, vapor pressure deficit and wind speed and a negative correlation with air relative humidity. In the dry season, sap flow velocity had a significant positive correlation with soil temperature and poor correlation with soil moisture; it was the opposite in the rainy season, indicating that precipitation clearly affected sap flow. Linear regression models between sap flow and environmental factors were established and were significant at the 0.005 level of probability. The mean transpiration rates of C. jianfengensis were 103.5 and 41.3 kg/d in our single tree and 1.94 and 0.77 mm/d in stand level in the dry and rainy season, respectively.