Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

The influence of bamboo culm water content on sap flux measurements with thermal dissipation probes: observations and modeling

  • Original Article
  • Published:
Trees Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

Key message

Water content fluctuations in bamboo culms significantly influence sap flux measurements with thermal dissipation probes, as indicated and quantified by experimental, monitoring and model analyses.

Abstract

Bamboos and other plants may substantially rely on stem water storage for transpiration. Fluctuations in wood water content (θ wood) may lead to errors when estimating transpiration based on sap flux (J s) measurements with the widely used thermal dissipation probe (TDP) method. To test the effects of θ wood on J s, we conducted a culm dehydration experiment, monitored bamboos with TDPs, and implemented a steady-state thermal model. Based on the model simulation, a mathematical correction method was built. Central to the calculation of J s, and thus a major potential source of error, is the maximum temperature difference between probes (ΔT max) which is often referred to as ‘zero flow’ conditions. In the culm dehydration experiment, we observed that ΔT max decreased when θ wood increased. In long-term field monitoring, ΔT max decreased when soil moisture content increased, potentially indicating changes in θ wood and a seasonal decrease in stem water storage. The steady-state model reproduced the θ wood to ΔT max relationship of the dehydration experiment and underlined a considerable sensitivity of J s estimates to θ wood. Fluctuations in θ wood may lead to a substantial underestimation of J s, and subsequently of transpiration, in commonly applied estimation schemes. However, our model results suggest that such underestimation can be quantified and subsequently corrected for with our correction equations when key wood properties are known. Our study gives insights into the relationship between θ wood and TDP-derived J s and examines potential estimation biases.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Fig. 1
Fig. 2
Fig. 3
Fig. 4
Fig. 5
Fig. 6

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  • Balakrishnan N (1991) Handbook of the logistic distribution. Marcel Dekker, New York

    Google Scholar 

  • Bush SE, Hultine KR, Sperry JS, Ehleringer JR (2010) Calibration of thermal dissipation sap flow probes for ring- and diffuse-porous trees. Tree Physiol 30:1545–1554

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Carslaw HS, Jaeger JC (1959) Conduction of heat in solids, 2nd edn. Clarendon Press, Oxford, pp 261–262

  • Clearwater MJ, Meinzer FC, Andrade JL, Goldstein G, Holbrook NM (1999) Potential errors in measurement of nonuniform sap flow using heat dissipation probes. Tree Physiol 19:681–687

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Constantz J, Murphy F (1990) Monitoring moisture storage in trees using time domain reflectometry. J Hydrol 119:31–42

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Do F, Rocheteau A (2002) Influence of natural temperature gradients on measurements of xylem sap flow with thermal dissipation probes. 1. Field observations and possible remedies. Tree Physiol 22:641–648

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Forster MA (2014) How significant is nocturnal sap flow? Tree Physiol 34:757–765

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Granier A (1985) Une nouvelle méthode pour la mesure du flux de sève brute dans le tronc des arbres. Ann For Sci 42:8

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Granier A (1987) Evaluation of transpiration in a Douglas-fir stand by means of sap flow measurements. Tree Physiol 3:309–320

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Hao G-Y, Wheeler JK, Holbrook NM, Goldstein G (2013) Investigating xylem embolism formation, refilling and water storage in tree trunks using frequency domain reflectometry. J Exp Bot 64:2321–2332

    Article  CAS  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  • Holbrook NM, Burns MJ, Sinclair TR (1992) Frequency and time-domain dielectric measurements of stem water content in the arborescent palm, Sabal palmetto. J Exp Bot 43:111–119

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hölttä T, Linkosalo T, Riikonen A, Sevanto S, Nikinmaa E (2015) An analysis of Granier sap flow method, its sensitivity to heat storage and a new approach to improve its time dynamics. Agric For Meteorol 211–212:2–12

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Köcher P, Horna V, Leuschner C (2013) Stem water storage in five coexisting temperate broad-leaved tree species: significance, temporal dynamics and dependence on tree functional traits. Tree Physiol 33:817–832

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Liese W, Köhl M (2015) Bamboo: the plant and its uses. Springer, Cham

    Book  Google Scholar 

  • Lu P, Urban L, Zhao P (2004) Granier’s thermal dissipation probe (TDP) method for measuring sap flow in trees: theory and practice. Acta Bot Sin 46:631–646

    Google Scholar 

  • Mei T-T, Fang D-M, Röll A, Niu F-R, Hölscher D (2016) Water use patterns of four tropical bamboo species assessed with sap flux measurements. Front Plant Sci 6:1202

    Article  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  • Nadler A, Raveh E, Yermiyahu U, Lado M, Nasser A, Barak M, Green S (2008) Detecting water stress in trees using stem electrical conductivity measurements. Soil Sci Soc Am J 72:1014

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Regalado CM, Ritter A (2007) An alternative method to estimate zero flow temperature differences for Granier’s thermal dissipation technique. Tree Physiol 27:1093–1102

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Scholz FC, Bucci SJ, Goldstein G, Meinzer FC, Franco AC, Miralles-Wilhelm F (2008) Temporal dynamics of stem expansion and contraction in savanna trees: withdrawal and recharge of stored water. Tree Physiol 28:469–480

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Smith DM, Allen SJ (1996) Measurement of sap flow in plant stems. J Exp Bot 47:1833–1844

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Sperling O, Shapira O, Schwartz A, Lazarovitch N (2015) Direct in vivo evidence of immense stem water exploitation in irrigated date palms. J Exp Bot 66:333–338

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Steppe K, De Pauw DJW, Doody TM, Teskey RO (2010) A comparison of sap flux density using thermal dissipation, heat pulse velocity and heat field deformation methods. Agric For Meteorol 150:1046–1056

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Tatarinov FA, Kučera J, Cienciala E (2005) The analysis of physical background of tree sap flow measurement based on thermal methods. Meas Sci Technol 16:1157

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Trcala M, Čermák J (2016) A new heat balance equation for sap flow calculation during continuous linear heating in tree sapwood. Appl Therm Eng 102:532–538

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Tyree MT, Sperry JS (1988) Do woody plants operate near the point of catastrophic xylem dysfunction caused by dynamic water stress? Answers from a model. Plant Physiol 88:574–580

    Article  CAS  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  • Vandegehuchte MW, Steppe K (2012a) Improving sap flux density measurements by correctly determining thermal diffusivity, differentiating between bound and unbound water. Tree Physiol 32:930–942

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Vandegehuchte MW, Steppe K (2012b) Sapflow+: a four-needle heat-pulse sap flow sensor enabling nonempirical sap flux density and water content measurements. New Phytol 196:306–317

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Vergeynst LL, Vandegehuchte MW, McGuire MA, Teskey RO, Steppe K (2014) Changes in stem water content influence sap flux density measurements with thermal dissipation probes. Trees 28:949–955

  • Wang H, Zhao P, Hölscher D, Wang Q, Lu P, Cai XA, Zeng XP (2012) Nighttime sap flow of Acacia mangium and its implications for nighttime transpiration and stem water storage. J Plant Ecol 5:294–304

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Wullschleger SD, Hanson PJ, Todd DE (1996) Measuring stem water content in four deciduous hardwoods with a time-domain reflectometer. Tree Physiol 16:809–815

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Wullschleger SD, Childs KW, King AW, Hanson PJ (2011) A model of heat transfer in sapwood and implications for sap flux density measurements using thermal dissipation probes. Tree Physiol 31:669–679

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Yang S-J, Zhang Y-J, Goldstein G, Sun M, Ma R-Y, Cao K-F (2015) Determinants of water circulation in a woody bamboo species: afternoon use and night-time recharge of culm water storage. Tree Physiol 35:964–974

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • vlab.amrita.edu (2011) Logistic population growth: continuous and discrete. http://vlab.amrita.edu/?sub=3&brch=65&sim=1110&cnt=1. Accessed 18 Aug 2017

Download references

Acknowledgements

The study was funded by the German Research Foundation (DFG, code number: HO 2119 and CRC 990, A02). Dong-Ming Fang received a scholarship from the China Scholarship Council (CSC). We thank Man-Li She from the German Aerospace Center (DLR) for sharing her insights on the ANSYS model and for passionately discussing ideas with us. We also thank the Departments of Facility and Property, the Ecology Lab and the Agriculture Faculty at the Bogor Agricultural University (IPB) for supporting our field work. We especially thank Prof. Dr. Hendrayanto from the IPB Faculty of Forestry for close cooperation in the project.

Author information

Author notes

  1. Tingting Mei and Dongming Fang contributed equally to this work.

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Tropical Silviculture and Forest Ecology, University of Goettingen, Büsgenweg 1, 37077, Göttingen, Germany

    Tingting Mei, Dongming Fang, Alexander Röll & Dirk Hölscher

  2. State Key Laboratory of Subtropical Silvilculture, Zhejiang Agriculture and Forestry University, Lin’an, 311300, Zhejiang, China

    Tingting Mei

  3. Zhejiang Provincial Key Laboratory of Carbon Cycling in Forest Ecosystems and Carbon Sequestration, Zhejiang Agriculture and Forestry University, Lin’an, 311300, Zhejiang, China

    Tingting Mei

Authors
  1. Tingting Mei
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Dongming Fang
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. Alexander Röll
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  4. Dirk Hölscher
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Tingting Mei.

Ethics declarations

Conflict of interest

The authors declare that the research was conducted in the absence of any commercial or financial relationships that could be construed as a potential conflict of interest.

Additional information

Communicated by U. Luettge.

Electronic supplementary material

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this article

Mei, T., Fang, D., Röll, A. et al. The influence of bamboo culm water content on sap flux measurements with thermal dissipation probes: observations and modeling. Trees 32, 441–451 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00468-017-1641-4

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00468-017-1641-4

Keywords

Search

Navigation