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Can we assume insignificant temporal changes in spatial variations of sap flux for year-round individual tree transpiration estimates? A case study on Cryptomeria japonica in central Taiwan

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Although spatial variations in sap flux changed seasonally in cedar trees, neglecting these seasonal changes generally resulted in less than 10% errors in year-round tree transpiration estimates.

Abstract

Spatial and temporal variations in sap flux (F d ) affect the accuracy of year-round individual tree water use (Q) estimates. We aimed to determine seasonal changes in radial and azimuthal variations in F d and to evaluate their potential impacts on year-round Q estimates for humid subtropical forest trees. We measured F d using 38 probes in eight Cryptomeria japonica trees in Taiwan from July 2010 to May 2011. During the study period, the ratio of inner F d to outermost F d (R r ) ranged between 0.29 and 0.68. The ratio of mean outermost F d to that at one direction (R a ) ranged between 0.36 and 1.89. The seasonal patterns were inconsistent among individuals. We compared year-round Q estimates derived from multi-sensor measurements (Q m ) with those derived from measurements at a certain position with constant correction factors for radial (Q r ) or azimuthal (Q a ) patterns of F d determined from the summer measurements. This simple exercise revealed consistent relationships between Q m and Q r year-round (<10% error), suggesting that seasonal changes in the radial profiles of F d had little effect on Q estimates. Although using a constant correction factor for azimuthal variations led to 20–40% errors in Q a of some individuals with large azimuthal variations (i.e., CV > 0.49), five out of eight individuals had less than 10% errors in their Q a estimates. These results suggested that constant correction factors can be used for radial variations in year-round Q estimates, but are not applicable for azimuthal variations in individuals showing large azimuthal variations of F d .

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Acknowledgements

This work was partly supported by the Ministry of Science Technology in the Republic of China (Nos. 103-2313-B-002-009-MY3, 100-2313-B-002-033-MY3, 99-2313-B-002-001-MY2). We are grateful to the staff of the Experimental Forest, National Taiwan University, for providing samples. We thank Dr. Wei-Li Liang (National Taiwan University) for helpful comments.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. School of Forestry and Resource Conservation, National Taiwan University, Taipei, Taiwan

    Han Tseng & Tomonori Kume

  2. Department of Geography, University of Hawai‘i at Mānoa, Honolulu, HI, USA

    Han Tseng

  3. Kasuya Research Forest, Kyushu University, Sasaguri, Fukuoka, Japan

    Chen-Wei Chiu

  4. Experimental Forest of National Taiwan University, Nantou, Taiwan

    Sophie Laplace

  5. Institution of Agriculture, Tokyo University of Agriculture and Technology, Fuchu, Tokyo, 183-8509, Japan

    Chen-Wei Chiu

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  1. Han Tseng
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Correspondence to Tomonori Kume.

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Communicated by T. Grams.

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Tseng, H., Chiu, CW., Laplace, S. et al. Can we assume insignificant temporal changes in spatial variations of sap flux for year-round individual tree transpiration estimates? A case study on Cryptomeria japonica in central Taiwan. Trees 31, 1239–1251 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00468-017-1542-6

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