Abstract
To achieve a rational allocation of limited water resources, and formulation of an appropriate irrigation system, this research studied the change characteristics of stem water content (StWC) in plant and its response to environmental factors. In this study, the StWC and environmental factors of Lagerstroemia indica in Beijing were continuously observed by a BD-IV plant stem water content sensor and a forest microclimate monitoring station from 2017 to 2018. The variation of StWC and its correlation with environmental factors were analyzed. The results showed that the StWC of Lagerstroemia indica varies regularly day and night during the growth cycle. Meanwhile, the rising time, valley time, and falling time of StWC were various at the different growth stages of Lagerstroemia indica. The results of correlation analysis between StWC and environmental factors indicated that the StWC of Lagerstroemia indica was positively correlated with air relative humidity, while it was negatively correlated with total radiation and air temperature. The multiple regression equation of StWC and environmental factors of Lagerstroemia indica was StWC=11.789−1.402Rn−0.931T−1.132Ws+0.933RH−3.368ST+2.168SMC, and the coefficient of determination of the equation was of 0.87. Furthermore, the results illustrated that the irrigation should pay attention to supplementing irrigation in time during the peak growing season of fruit.
Highlights
The stem is one of the two main structural axes of vascular plants, which plays a variety of roles in plants, such as mechanical support of leaves, flowers, and fruits, water transport between root and shoots in xylem and phloem, and water storage [1, 2]
This study confirms that the environmental factors can be significant predictors of daily stem water content (StWC) of Lagerstroemia indica in Beijing
The rising time, valley time, and falling time of StWC are different at the different growth stages of the Lagerstroemia indica
Summary
The stem is one of the two main structural axes of vascular plants, which plays a variety of roles in plants, such as mechanical support of leaves, flowers, and fruits, water transport between root and shoots in xylem and phloem, and water storage [1, 2]. A good understanding of StWC contributes to solving forestry research hotspots, such as cold resistance [3], drought resistance [4], and health assessment [5]. StWC and its environmental coupling mechanism is of great significance for formulating a reasonable irrigation system and making efficient use of water resources [6]. Water is one of the main factors restricting the growth and yield of Lagerstroemia indica; to assure the survival rate of Lagerstroemia indica, the irrigation strategies can be formulated more precisely according to the pattern of StWC of trees in different growth stages and the response to different environments, which can improve the utilization rate of irrigation.
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