Water‐use response to climate factors at whole tree and branch scale for a dominant desert species in central Asia: Haloxylon ammodendron

Water use of a dominant desert species, Haloxylon ammodendron, growing in the southern edge of Gurbantunggut Desert in northwest China, was measured using sap flow technologies at both tree and branch scales. Daily sap flow at whole-tree scale showed a good relationship with atmospheric evaporation demand (P < 0·001), whereas daily sap flow at branch scale showed good relationships with the variable of transpiration rate (P < 0·01). Hysteresis in hourly sap flow at both scales was observed as a function of micro-meteorological variables, in which the hysteresis between sap flow and vapour pressure deficit was clockwise rotation, suggesting that the water use of H. ammodendron was related to not just the stomatal behaviour but also use of stored plant water. The hysteresis between sap flow and photosynthetic photon flux density was counter-clockwise after precipitation, but turned to be clockwise under dry conditions, which was ever clearer at whole-tree scale. Different responses of sap flows at branch and whole-tree scale to climate factors were identified, which strongly indicated that H. ammodendron had some mechanisms to reduce whole-tree water use at high transpiration demand, while maintaining part of canopy under relatively high water use, which resulted in canopy scale patchiness. Copyright © 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

[1]  Sven Erik Jørgensen,et al.  State-of-the-art of ecological modelling with emphasis on development of structural dynamic models , 1999 .

[2]  S. Drake,et al.  Evaluation of water use of Caragana microphylla with the stem heat-balance method in Horqin Sandy Land, Inner Mongolia, China , 2008 .

[3]  T. Dawson,et al.  Using branch and basal trunk sap flow measurements to estimate whole-plant water capacitance: a caution , 2008, Plant and Soil.

[4]  Nate G. McDowell,et al.  Transpiration and stomatal conductance across a steep climate gradient in the southern Rocky Mountains , 2008 .

[5]  Yan Li,et al.  Ecophysiological response and morphological adjustment of two Central Asian desert shrubs towards variation in summer precipitation. , 2007, Plant, cell & environment.

[6]  D. Hollinger,et al.  Evaporation, xylem sap flow, and tree transpiration in a New Zealand broad-leaved forest , 1992 .

[7]  R. Huc,et al.  Transpiration of natural rain forest and its dependence on climatic factors , 1996 .

[8]  D. Eamus,et al.  Seasonal patterns of xylem sap pH, xylem abscisic acid concentration, leaf water potential and stomatal conductance of six evergreen and deciduous Australian savanna tree species , 2002 .

[9]  E. D. Sousa,et al.  Sap flow in papaya plants : Laboratory calibrations and relationships with gas exchanges under field conditions , 2006 .

[10]  G. Goldstein,et al.  Using branch and basal trunk sap flow measurements to estimate whole-plant water capacitance: comment on Burgess and Dawson (2008) , 2009, Plant and Soil.

[11]  M. Zeppel,et al.  Seasonal responses of xylem sap velocity to VPD and solar radiation during drought in a stand of native trees in temperate Australia. , 2004, Functional plant biology : FPB.

[12]  R. Oren,et al.  Temporal patterns of water flux in trees and lianas in a Panamanian moist forest , 1999, Trees.

[13]  H. Schmid,et al.  Environmental controls on sap flow in a northern hardwood forest. , 2005, Tree physiology.

[14]  Y. Kakubari,et al.  Estimation of stand transpiration of a beech forest based on an eco-physiological computer simulation model and superporometer , 1992 .

[15]  Ma Ke-ping,et al.  Population Genetic Structure of a Dominant Desert Tree, Haloxylon ammodendron (Chenopodiaceae), in the Southeast Gurbantunggut Desert Detected by RAPD and ISSR Markers , 2004 .

[16]  A. Granier,et al.  A new method of sap flow measurement in tree stems , 1985 .

[17]  Yong-zhong Su,et al.  Sap flow and tree conductance of shelter-belt in arid region of China , 2006 .

[18]  M. Battaglia,et al.  Constraints on transpiration of Eucalyptus globulus in southern Tasmania, Australia , 2008 .

[19]  A. Granier.  Une nouvelle méthode pour la mesure du flux de sève brute dans le tronc des arbres , 1985 .

[20]  G. Goldstein,et al.  Regulation of water flux through trunks, branches, and leaves in trees of a lowland tropical forest , 1998, Oecologia.

[21]  J. W. Worthington,et al.  Comparison of Trunk and Branch Sap Flow with Canopy Transpiration in Pecan , 1990 .

[22]  S. Rambal,et al.  Within-tree variation in transpiration in isolated evergreen oak trees: evidence in support of the pipe model theory. , 2001, Tree physiology.

[23]  Huang Lei,et al.  Sap flow of Artemisia ordosica and the influence of environmental factors in a revegetated desert area: Tengger Desert, China , 2010 .

[24]  G Goldstein,et al.  Regulation of water flux through tropical forest canopy trees: do universal rules apply? , 2001, Tree physiology.

[25]  S. Levin.  The problem of pattern and scale in ecology , 1992 .

[26]  K. G. McNaughton,et al.  Stomatal Control of Transpiration: Scaling Up from Leaf to Region , 1986 .

[27]  N. Breda,et al.  A generic model of forest canopy conductance dependent on climate, soil water availability and leaf area index , 2000 .

[28]  R. Oren,et al.  Sap-flux-scaled transpiration responses to light, vapor pressure deficit, and leaf area reduction in a flooded Taxodium distichum forest. , 1999, Tree physiology.

[29]  Tetsuo Sakuratani,et al.  A heat balance method for measuring water flux in the stem of intact plants , 1981 .

[30]  L. Urban,et al.  Granier's Thermal Dissipation Probre (TDP) method for measuring sap flow in trees : theory and practice , 2004 .

[31]  Jevin D. West,et al.  Evidence for complex, collective dynamics and emergent, distributed computation in plants , 2004, Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA.

[32]  Yan Li,et al.  Water-use strategy of three central Asian desert shrubs and their responses to rain pulse events , 2006, Plant and Soil.

[33]  Steve Green,et al.  Radiation balance, transpiration and photosynthesis of an isolated tree , 1993 .

[34]  M. G. Ryan,et al.  Reliance on stored water increases with tree size in three species in the Pacific Northwest. , 2003, Tree physiology.

[35]  G. Goldstein,et al.  Control of transpiration from the upper canopy of a tropical forest: the role of stomatal, boundary layer and hydraulic architecture components , 1997 .

[36]  J. Bardsley,et al.  Numerical analysis of pattern formation on the surface of transpiring leaves , 2007 .

[37]  Jianwu Tang,et al.  Biophysical control of whole tree transpiration under an urban environment in Northern China , 2011 .

[38]  Shaozhong Kang,et al.  Diurnal and seasonal variations of sap flow of Caragana korshinskii in the arid desert region of north‐west China , 2008 .

[39]  G. Katul,et al.  Canopy conductance of Pinus taeda, Liquidambar styraciflua and Quercus phellos under varying atmospheric and soil water conditions. , 1998, Tree physiology.

[40]  D. Clark,et al.  Whole tree xylem sap flow responses to multiple environmental variables in a wet tropical forest , 2004 .

[41]  I. Noy-Meir,et al.  Desert Ecosystems: Environment and Producers , 1973 .

[42]  Nathan Phillips,et al.  Tree water storage and its diurnal dynamics related to sap flow and changes in stem volume in old-growth Douglas-fir trees. , 2007, Tree physiology.

[43]  E. Rastetter,et al.  Seasonal variation in net carbon exchange and evapotranspiration in a Brazilian rain forest: a modelling analysis , 1998 .

[44]  Bing Liu,et al.  The response of sap flow in desert shrubs to environmental variables in an arid region of China , 2011 .

[45]  N. Orlovsky,et al.  The role of Haloxylon species for combating desertification in Central Asia , 2002 .

[46]  Zhou Kefa,et al.  Temporal and spatial variation and stability of the oasis in the Sangong River Watershed, Xinjiang, China , 2003 .

[47]  Yan Li,et al.  Seasonal variation in plant hydraulic traits of two co-occurring desert shrubs, Tamarix ramosissima and Haloxylon ammodendron, with different rooting patterns , 2011, Ecological Research.

[48]  A. P. O'Grady,et al.  Transpiration increases during the dry season: patterns of tree water use in eucalypt open-forests of northern Australia. , 1999, Tree physiology.

[49]  F. Meinzer,et al.  A comparison of daily water use estimates derived from constant-heat sap-flow probe values and gravimetric measurements in pot-grown saplings. , 2007, Tree physiology.

[50]  J. Coleman,et al.  Water use of two Mojave Desert shrubs under elevated CO2 , 2000 .