Tree Water Use Efficiency Research Articles

Hydraulic characteristics and leaf water use efficiency in trees from tropical montane habitats

This study was carried out in pioneer and successional forest tree species in a lower montane tropical forest with seasonal rains. We tested whether pioneer species feature high hydraulic conductance allowing them to use water profusely at leaf level. Conversely, forest species may have relatively low hydraulic conductance accompanied with better control over water use. This may lead in turn to pioneer species being at a relatively higher risk of shoot water potential falling below the threshold value at which cavitations occur compared to forest. Specific hydraulic conductance (K s) measured during the wet season was comparable between pioneers and forest species. During drought, K s was significantly reduced, and species of both plant groups responded to this by modifying the relationship between conducting area and leaf area (Huver value), such that leaf specific conductivity (K l) was unaffected. Thus, leaf area seemed to be adjusted to maintain constant hydraulic sufficiency during drought. Pioneer species were more efficient in conducting water to their leaves but had low control over water use compared to forest species. A trade-off between water transport and leaf water use efficiency was suggested. These ecophysiological differences may have an impact on the performance of the species occupying contrasting habitats. Nonetheless, drought-induced embolisms occurred in trees growing in both open and forest habitats. Overall, during drought, adjustment of leaf area occurred in order to maintain a homeostasis of some physiological traits (leaf-specific conductivity and carbon assimilation).

Carbon isotope discrimination and oxygen isotope composition in clones of the F(1) hybrid between slash pine and Caribbean pine in relation to tree growth, water-use efficiency and foliar nutrient concentration.

The objectives of this study were: (1) to examine how foliar carbon isotope discrimination (Delta) and oxygen isotope composition (delta(18)O) are related to tree growth, ash mineral nutrient concentration and foliar nutrient concentration in 7-year-old clones of the F(1) hybrid between slash pine (Pinus elliottii Engelm.) and Caribbean pine (P. caribaea var. hondurensis Barr. et Golf.) in subtropical Australia; and (2) to evaluate the potential of using foliar Delta, ash mineral nutrient concentration and delta(18)O measurements for selecting F(1) hybrid pine clones with high water-use efficiency (WUE) and growth potential. There were significant differences in tree growth, foliar Delta, delta(18)O and ash mineral nutrient concentration among the eight clones tested. Significant negative linear relationships existed between tree growth and Delta, extrapolating to zero growth at Delta = 24-30 per thousand. There were strong genetic correlations (r = -0.83 to -0.96) between Delta and tree growth, particularly tree height. Significant non-genetic correlations (r = -0.62 to -0.80) existed between Delta and foliar K concentration. Foliar delta(18)O, ash mineral nutrient concentration and foliar nutrient concentration were unrelated to tree growth. In the F(1) hybrid pine clones, variation in tree WUE, as reflected by Delta, was largely attributed to a genetic effect on leaf photosynthetic capacity rather than on stomatal conductance, as reflected by foliar delta(18)O.

Photosynthetic and transpirational responses of red spruce understory trees to light and temperature.

Understory red spruce (Picea rubens Sarg.) trees, between 20 and 50 cm in height and 12 years or more in age, were collected from mid- and high-elevation stands in north-central Vermont and placed in a closed-cuvette system to measure photosynthetic and transpirational responses to photosynthetic photon flux density (PPFD) and temperature. Photosynthesis, dark respiration, transpiration and water-use efficiency of trees from both stands responded to changes in PPFD and temperature in similar ways. Trees from both stands exhibited maximum rates of net photosynthesis at temperatures between 15 and 20 degrees C, and exposure to higher temperatures resulted in reduced rates of photosynthesis and increased rates of respiration. Net photosynthetic rates generally increased with increasing light intensity but began to level off at 250 micro mol m(-2) s(-1). Water-use efficiency was maximal when temperature and PPFD were at 15 degrees C and above 400 micro mol m(-2) s(-1), respectively.

GROWTH AND BIOMASS PRODUCTION OFTECOMELLA UNDULATAAS AFFECTED BY RAIN WATER HARVESTING AND CONSERVATION PRACTICES IN ARID ZONE

SUMMARY A field experiment was conducted to investigate the influence of different rain water harvesting and moisture conservation practices on soil moisture storage, growth and biomass production of Tecomella undulata, an important furniture and timber wood species of the Indian arid zone. The water harvesting technique of ‘inter row slopes’ (20 per cent) caused a more than five fold increase in the total biomass of a 26 month old plantation of T. undulata, four-fold increase in rootmass and 35% rise in tree height. “Saucers of 1.5 m diameter covered with mulching” was the second best treatment. Both significantly improved soil moisture storage, water use efficiency of trees, Harvest Index and biomass allocation to stem component. The ‘Inter row slopes’ was the most cost effective and growth effective treatment.

Evapotranspiration of beech stands and transpiration of beech leaves subject to atmospheric CO(2) enrichment.

Beech trees (Fagus sylvatica L.) show reduced stomatal conductance and increased leaf area index in response to increased atmospheric CO(2) concentration. To determine whether the reduction in stomatal conductance results in lower stand evapotranspiration, we compared transpiration on a leaf-area basis and stand evapotranspiration on a ground-area basis in young European beech trees growing in greenhouses at ambient (360 +/- 34 micro mol mol(-1)) and elevated (698 +/- 10 micro mol mol(-1)) CO(2) concentrations. Trees were grown in homogenized natural soil at constant soil water supply for two growing seasons. At light saturation, leaf transpiration rates were, on average, 18% lower in the elevated CO(2) treatment than in the ambient CO(2) treatment. Mean transpiration coefficients (transpiration/net CO(2) uptake) of leaves were 179 and 110 in the ambient and elevated CO(2) treatments, respectively, indicating improved water use efficiency in trees in the elevated CO(2) treatment. Total leaf conductance was decreased by 32% at light saturation. The elevated CO(2) treatment resulted in a 14% reduction in stand evapotranspiration. In both CO(2) treatments, evapotranspiration increased linearly at a rate of 0.2 kg H(2)O m(-2) day(-1) for each 1 degrees C rise in air temperature between 14 and 25 degrees C. We conclude that, under Central European conditions, water losses from deciduous forest stands will be reduced by a doubling of tropospheric CO(2) concentration.

The effects of water availability on transpiration, water potential and growth of Picea abies during a growing season

Transpiration, pre-dawn shoot water potential and growth of Norway spruce trees were measured for one growing season, under three water regimes, giving a seasonal water input of 696 mm (irrigated), 579 mm (control) and 270 mm (drought). Potential transpiration was calculated from the Penman-Monteith equation, using maximal canopy conductance as a function of vapour pressure deficit. Sap flow was measured by a tree-trunk heat balance method and the data were expressed per unit ground surface. This allowed calculation of canopy conductance ( g c) for the three treatments. The median of the daytime g c was about 1.1 cm s −1 for non-limiting water conditions, and about 0.5 cm s −1 for the conditions of a moderate water deficit. Pre-dawn water potential did not decrease until daily transpiration rates were substantially reduced, with corresponding g c of 0.2 cm s −1. The type of control which limits transpiration is discussed. The basal-area growth was related closely to the amount of water infiltrated into the soil. The estimated long-term tree water-use efficiency (the total dry matter produced per unit of water transpired) was on average 4.8 g kg −1, with insignificant differences between the treatments. Seasonal transpiration reached 380 mm, 325 mm and 209 mm for the irrigated, control and drought treatment, respectively.

Measuring water use efficiency of Eucalypt trees with chambers and micrometeorological techniques

Enclosure appears to be the only feasible way to examine the gas exchange of small groups of trees or to answer questions about the effects of increased atmospheric CO 2 on the assimilation, evaporation and water use efficiency of forests. To be effective, enclosures must necessarily change the microclimate, but few studies have been made of the consequences. In this paper, the assimilation, evaporation and water use efficiency of a community of Eucalyptus trees inside a ventilated chamber are compared with the same attributes for the surrounding forest. Assimilation and evaporation for the chamber were measured by the depletion in CO 2 and the enrichment in water vapour of air passing through the chamber. For the forest, assimilation and evaporation were determined by micrometeorological techniques based on the energy balance, and for CO 2, additional chamber measurements of the soil effiux. Water use efficiencies were calculated as the ratio of mol CO 2 assimilated to mol water evaporated. There are some important microclimatic differences between chamber and forest: net radiation is reduced by about 30% in the chamber, the vapour pressure deficit of the chamber air is lower, and the light climate there tends to be diffuse rather than direct. Despite these differences, evaporation rates for both chamber and forest were generally similar, perhaps due to compensating effects in the chamber from higher boundary layer conductances (because of greater ventilation rates) and higher stomatal conductances (because of increased humidity). However, assimilation rates and water use efficiencies were markedly different for the two communities in clear sky conditions, with higher values of both being recorded in the chamber for most of the daylight hours. Only on cloudy days, when the light climate was diffuse in both chamber and forest, were similar assimilation rates and water use efficiencies observed. This behaviour seems to be attributable in part to the light climate in the chamber being predominantly diffuse and that in the forest predominantly direct. Diffuse light enhances the photosynthesis of lower leaves in the canopy. This contention is supported by model calculations of canopy assimilation under diffuse and direct radiation which produced qualitatively the same light response functions as observed for chamber and forest. The study suggests that the use of chambers for exploring questions of forest productivity and water use efficiency must be circumspect. The act of enclosure, by itself, can change the daily water use efficiency of the tree community by as much as 50%.