Abstract
Measuring the sap flow pattern along stem radii may help to understand relationships between layers of conducting sapwood and paths of water supplied by roots. Experiments were performed with specimens of four tree genera (Ficus, Tilia, Pinus and Picea)applying sap flow meters installed in tree stems and coarse roots. Roots were treated by naturally occurring changes in soil moisture (watering by rain and then drought stress) and by blocking the source of water (by the cutting of absorbing roots) or sink of water (tree crown) by breaking the stem. In the watering experiments sap flow increased significantly in the outer sapwood (60–80% of stem xylem radius, r x ) of the fig-tree when soil water supply increased after rain. Hot weather then caused drying-out of upper soil layers and a decrease in sap flow in the outer stem xylem. A similar situation occurred in the stem of the pine tree when a period of good water supply characterized by a higher flow in outer sapwood (80–100% of r x ) was followed by a period of hot and dry weather, which caused decreasing water content in surface soil layers. In response, sap flow decreased in outer sapwood, whilst no change in flow was observed in the deeper sapwood. The situation returned to its previous state after heavy rains. In the source-severing experiments (Tilia), sap flow in stem and roots increased immediately after treatment (which characterized changes in driving forces and the elimination of root-soil resistance) and than gradually decreased following the depletion of stored water. Severing experiments also indicated, that surface roots were presumably connected with the outer layers of sapwood, while deep roots supplied water uniformly over most of sapwood. In the sink-severing experiments (Picea), where the tree was winched until failure, sap flow decreased continuously in all roots, mostly in parts of sapwood where the highest flow was recorded before the treatment. Largest deceleration occurred in both the ‘compressed’ and ‘tension’ roots (with a time shift of around 4 min) followed by that in the root perpendicular to the direction of winching.
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Nadezhdina, N., Cermak, J. (2000). Responses of sap flow rate along tree stem and coarse root radii to changes of water supply. In: Stokes, A. (eds) The Supporting Roots of Trees and Woody Plants: Form, Function and Physiology. Developments in Plant and Soil Sciences, vol 87. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-017-3469-1_22
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-017-3469-1_22
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