Abstract
Sap flow rate (Qw) and leaf water potential (Ψw.leaf) in adult specimens of birch (Betula) and oak (Quercus) were measured under contrasting soil moisture conditions (Ψw.sofl). With sufficient soil moisture Qw reached about 250 cm3h−1 calculated per unit tree-trunk segment as given by 1 cm length of its circumference. In soil water-stress conditions (when Ψw.leaf = = −15 × 105Pa), birch stopped transpiration and wilted. Oak transpired even when Ψw.leaf fell below −20 × 105Pa. The relation between Qw and Ψw.leaf was always linear and with various Ψw.soil differed in the slopes of regression lines only. Hydraulic conductance (Kwcu) with nonlimiting moisture conditions reached about 6 × 10−9m3 10−5Pa−1s−1 and “conductivity” (“kwa”) when calculated per leaf area unit reached about 23 m 10−5Pa−1s−1. Kwcu and “kwa” were of about one half to nine times greater in birch than in oak. On the basis of relations between Ψw.soil at various depths, Ψw.leaf and Qw (resp. Kw) it is possible to assess the maximal rooting depth and the effective depth where the maximum of absorption of roots occurs. It is to be seen that the root system macrostructure substantially participates in the drought avoidance of adult trees in a forest stand.
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Čermák, J., Huzulák, J. & Penka, M. Water potential and sap flow rate in adult trees with moist and dry soil as used for the assessment of root system depth. Biol Plant 22, 34–41 (1980). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02878125
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02878125