AquaFlux: Rapid, transparent and replicable analyses of plant transpiration

Speckman, H. N.; Ewers, B. E.; Beverly, D.

doi:10.1111/2041-210x.13309

Cited by 14 publications

(19 citation statements)

References 20 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Order By: Relevance

“…Extensive ecophysiological and geophysical measures were carried out at plot V. Meteorological observations of radiation, wind speed, temperature, precipitation, and relative humidity were recorded (Thayer et al, ). Sap flux density was measured on 6–7 trees per species using Granier method (Granier, ), processed using the R package AquaFlux (Speckman et al, ), and converted into transpiration per leaf area based on previously reported ratios of sapwood area to leaf area (Kaufmann & Troendle, ), following previous studies in this area (Adelman et al, ; Ewers et al, ; Ewers et al, ; Pataki et al, ). Predawn and midday leaf water potentials were averaged for five samples per date and measured using a Scholander‐type pressure chamber (PMS, Corvallis, OR).…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Plant Hydraulic Stress Explained Tree Mortality and Tree Size Explained Beetle Attack in a Mixed Conifer Forest

et al. 2019

Self Cite

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Drought predisposes conifer forests to bark beetle attacks and mortality. Although plant hydraulic stress mechanistically links to tree mortality, its capacity to predict trees' susceptibility to beetle attacks has not been evaluated. Further, both tree size and water supply could influence plant hydraulic stress, but their relative importance remained unknown. In this study, we modeled plant hydraulic stress of individual trees in a mixed forest of Lodgepole pine (Pinus contorta), Engelmann spruce (Picea engelmannii), and Subalpine fir (Abies lasiocarpa) in southern Wyoming, using an integrated model of plant hydraulics and hydrology, ground surveys of tree size as well as physiological and geophysical measurements. Based on the established link between plant hydraulic stress and tree mortality, we found interspecific differences in the relative importance of water availability and tree size. Pine mortality was best explained by the combination of tree size and water supply, and fir mortality was best explained by variations in water supply. We next compared the prediction of beetle attack by modeled plant hydraulic stress versus tree size and found tree size best explained beetle attack consistently for all three species. Taken together, our results suggested beetle attack was primarily influenced by beetle preference for large trees, potentially as food sources, rather than more hydraulically stressed trees. These findings highlighted the importance of integrated understanding of biotic/abiotic factors and their mechanistic pathways in order to accurately predict the sustainability of forests susceptible to drought and beetle outbreaks.

show abstract

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Plant Hydraulic Stress Explained Tree Mortality and Tree Size Explained Beetle Attack in a Mixed Conifer Forest

et al. 2019

Self Cite

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…Multiple sap flow sensors can be deployed, in almost any terrestrial ecosystem, to determine the magnitude and temporal dynamics of transpiration across species, environmental conditions or experimental treatments. All sap flow methods are subject to methodological and scaling issues, which may affect the quantification of absolute water use in some circumstances (Čermák et al, 2004;Köstner et al, 1998;Smith and Allen, 1996;Vandegehuchte and Steppe, 2013). Nevertheless, all methods are suitable for the assessment of the temporal dynamics of transpiration and of its responses to environmental changes or to experimental treatments (Flo et al, 2019).…”

Section: Open Accessmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The main characteristics of sap flow methods have been reviewed elsewhere (Čermák et al, 2004;Smith and Allen, 1996;Swanson, 1994;Vandegehuchte and Steppe, 2013). Given the already broad scope of the paper, here we only provide a brief methodological overview, without delving into the details of the individual methods.…”

Section: An Overview Of Sap Flow Measurementsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…This output relates to heat transport in the stem and needs to be converted to meaningful quantities of water transport, such as sap flow per plant or per unit sapwood area. How this conversion is achieved varies greatly across methods, with some relying on empirical calibrations and others being more physically-based and requiring the estimation of wood thermal properties and other parameters (Čermák et al, 2004;Smith and Allen, 1996;Vandegehuchte and Steppe, 2013). Depending on the method and the specific sensor design, sap flow measurements can be representative of single points, linear segments along the sapwood, sapwood area sections or entire stems.…”

Section: An Overview Of Sap Flow Measurementsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Ewers et al, 1999) or density changes (i.e. thinning, Simonin et al, 2007). The SAPFLUXNET database includes datasets with experimental manipulations, applied either at the stand or at the individual level ( Table 3).…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

See 2 more Smart Citations

Global transpiration data from sap flow measurements: the SAPFLUXNET database

Poyatos¹,

Granda²,

Flo³

et al. 2020

Preprint

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Abstract. Plant transpiration links physiological responses of vegetation to water supply and demand with hydrological, energy and carbon budgets at the land-atmosphere interface. However, despite being the main land evaporative flux at the global scale, transpiration and its response to environmental drivers are currently not well constrained by observations. Here we introduce the first global compilation of whole-plant transpiration data from sap flow measurements (SAPFLUXNET, https://sapfluxnet.creaf.cat/). We harmonised and quality-controlled individual datasets supplied by contributors worldwide in a semi-automatic data workflow implemented in the R programming language. Datasets include sub-daily time series of sap flow and hydrometeorological drivers for one or more growing seasons, as well as metadata on the stand characteristics, plant attributes and technical details of the measurements. SAPFLUXNET contains 202 globally distributed datasets with sap flow time series for 2714 plants, mostly trees, of 174 species. SAPFLUXNET has a broad bioclimatic coverage, with woodland/shrubland and temperate forest biomes especially well-represented (80 % of the datasets). The measurements cover a wide variety of stand structural characteristics and plant sizes. The datasets encompass the period between 1995 and 2018, with 50 % of the datasets being at least 3 years long. Accompanying radiation and vapour pressure deficit data are available for most of the datasets, while on-site soil water content is available for 56 % of the datasets. Many datasets contain data for species that make up 90 % or more of the total stand basal area, allowing the estimation of stand transpiration in diverse ecological settings. SAPFLUXNET adds to existing plant trait datasets, ecosystem flux networks and remote sensing products to help increase our understanding of plant water use, plant responses to drought and ecohydrological processes. SAPFLUXNET version 0.1.5 is freely available from the Zenodo repository ( https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.3971689, Poyatos et al., 2020a). The sapfluxnetr R package, designed to access, visualise and process SAPFLUXNET data is available from CRAN.

show abstract

Increased tree water use with the development of a dense understory layer in a North American hardwood forest

Rasoanaivo,

Mekontchou,

Rochon

et al. 2024

Ecohydrology

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

The formation of a single species, recalcitrant understory vegetation layer can limit tree regeneration and, in the long term, modify the composition of forests. Few studies have investigated how recalcitrant vegetation influences competition for water resources although the formation of a dense understory is likely to modify the forest water balance. In eastern North American hardwood forests, the development of a dense understory layer of American beech (Fagus grandifolia) has been observed in stands dominated by sugar maple (Acer saccharum), a phenomenon that shares many characteristics associated with recalcitrant vegetation. Given that water availability is generally negatively correlated with stand density, we hypothesized that the formation of a dense understory beech layer increased competition for water resources, thus leading to reduced water use by sugar maple trees in beech‐dominated stands. Using thermal dissipation sensors, we measured sap flux density (Fd) of two sugar maple trees at three beech‐dominated sites and three control sites. During the growing season, Fd of sugar maple trees was significantly larger at beech‐dominated sites compared to control sites, indicating a greater rate of water use by sugar maples in stands with a dense understory beech layer. We provide two hypotheses to explain our results at the tree scale: (i) reduced cover by forest floor vegetation could limit transpiration by this layer, thus allowing increased water availability to supply transpiration by overstory trees, or (ii) increased tree transpiration rate could be a mechanism to satisfy nutrient requirements in beech‐dominated stands often associated with lower soil fertility.

show abstract

AquaFlux: Rapid, transparent and replicable analyses of plant transpiration

Cited by 14 publications

References 20 publications

Plant Hydraulic Stress Explained Tree Mortality and Tree Size Explained Beetle Attack in a Mixed Conifer Forest

Plant Hydraulic Stress Explained Tree Mortality and Tree Size Explained Beetle Attack in a Mixed Conifer Forest

Global transpiration data from sap flow measurements: the SAPFLUXNET database

Increased tree water use with the development of a dense understory layer in a North American hardwood forest

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About