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Forest transpiration—targeted through xylem sap flux assessment versus hydrological modeling

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Abstract

The assessment of forest transpiration rates is crucial for determining plant-available soil water consumption and drought risk of trees. Xylem sap flux measurements have been used increasingly to quantify stand transpiration in forest ecosystems. Here, we compare this empirical approach with hydrological modeling on the basis of a stand transpiration dataset of adult beech (Fagus sylvatica), which was acquired across Bavaria, Germany, at eight forest sites. Xylem sap flux sensors were installed in five dominant trees each. Two tree to stand upscaling approaches, related to site-specific (1) sapwood area or (2) to leaf area index, were compared. The outcome was examined each in relation to process-based stand hydrological modeling, using LWF-BROOK90. Distinct relationships between tree diameter at breast height (1.30 m) and sapwood area-weighted sap flux along the radial profile became apparent across the study sites, confirming a generic allometric basis for stand-level upscaling of transpiration. The two upscaling approaches did not differ in outcome, representatively covering stand structure for comparison with modeling. Differential analysis yielded high agreement between the empirical and modeling approaches throughout most of the study period, although LWF-BROOK90 tended to overestimate sap flux measurements under low soil moisture. The two empirical approaches proved reliable for even-aged beech stands, as performance under high stand-structural heterogeneity awaits clarification. Findings advance stand-level hydrological modeling regarding coverage of stomatal behavior during temporary limitation in water availability.

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Abbreviations

DBH:

Diameter at breast height

POD:

Phytotoxic ozone dose

PLA:

Projected leaf area

LAIseasonal :

Modeled seasonally changing projected leaf area index

swafw :

Flux-weighted sapwood area

Δw :

Leaf air mol fraction difference of water vapor

P aw :

Plant-available soil water

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Acknowledgments

We want to thank Stephan Raspe, Lothar Zimmermann, Hans-Peter Dietrich, Winfried Grimmeisen and Ernst Bickel from the Bavarian State Institute of Forestry (LWF) for courtesy of meteorological, soil water and biometric data from Level II sites, and Jochen Krause and Christoph Happe-Wagner for technical support, Burkhard Beudert and Willi Breit from the Bavarian Forest National Park for courtesy of meteorological soil water and biometric data from Forellenbach and technical support, Jochen Dieler from the Chair of forest growth (TUM) for courtesy of biometric data of the Kranzberg Forest, and the Deutscher Wetterdienst DWD, the Bayerische Landesanstalt für Umwelt LFU and the Hessische Landesanstalt für Umwelt und Geologie HLUG for providing meteorological data. The funding for this study was kindly provided by the Bayerisches Staatsministerium für Ernährung, Landwirtschaft und Forsten—Bavarian Ministry for Nutrition, Agriculture, and Forestry (Bay. StMELF) as part of the KLIP program.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Chair for Ecophysiology of Plants, Technische Universität München TUM, Hans-Carl-von Carlowitz-Platz 2, 85354, Freising, Germany

    Manuela Baumgarten, Angelika Kühn, Katharina May & Rainer Matyssek

  2. Department of Soil and Climate, Bavarian State Institute of Forestry LWF, Hans-Carl-von Carlowitz-Platz 1, 85354, Freising, Germany

    Manuela Baumgarten & Wendelin Weis

  3. Section of Forest Nutrition and Water Resources, Technische Universität München TUM, Hans-Carl-von Carlowitz-Platz 2, 85354, Freising, Germany

    Wendelin Weis

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  1. Manuela Baumgarten
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Correspondence to Manuela Baumgarten.

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Communicated by A. Merino.

This article originates from the IUFRO Conference “Biological Reactions of Forests to Climate Change and Air Pollution,” held in Kaunas/ Lithuania during May 18–27, 2012, as organized by IUFRO Research Group 7.01.00 in cooperation with COST Action FP 0903 “MAFor,” North American Air Pollution workshop ENVeurope and ICP monitoring task force (local organizer: Algirdas Augustaitis).

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Baumgarten, M., Weis, W., Kühn, A. et al. Forest transpiration—targeted through xylem sap flux assessment versus hydrological modeling. Eur J Forest Res 133, 677–690 (2014). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10342-014-0796-4

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