A field study of depletion-replenish water storage mechanism in tree stems in semi-arid region

<p>Trees in arid and semi-arid regions are faced with water shortages at most times, and the use of water storage in tree stem is an important mechanism and pathway for adaptation to drought. In this research, we have explored the tree saplings in semi-arid areas by continuous monitoring and analysis of the sap flux at stem top and stem breast, in the main growth season. A primary objective is to find out when and how trees use stem water storage as a reservoir, and more specifically if there is a difference in stem flow start time between stem top and stem breast. Our study shows that in sunny day of the growing season, the sap flow at stem top start time is later than the sap flow at stem breast, with the maximum of time lag about 60 mins, and the daily sap flow peak time of stem top is later than that of the stem breast by 1-2 hrs. The maximum daily flux at stem top is about 1.4-2.1 times greater than that at stem breast. Stem water storage increases the drought tolerance of trees. The depletion stage of stem water storage mainly occurs in early morning, and then enters the replenishing phase in the afternoon. In a sunny day, with the increase of soil water deficit with relative extractable water (REW) (or the relative effective soil water index) less than 0.43, demand for water storage of stem is more significant, and its role is mainly based on the depletion process. When the soil moisture condition is improved, the process is dominated by replenishing. From the results of continuous observations throughout the growing season, the depleting and replenishing processes can achieve equilibrium in a short period of time (like a few days). This research has advanced our understanding of the utilization mechanism of tree stem storage water in semi-arid areas.</p>

Tracing dynamic water uptake and transport from root to canopy by online monitoring of water isotopes in an enclosed tropical forest in response to drought

<p><em>Online</em> (or: <em>in situ</em>) methods for measuring soil and plant water isotopes have been identified as an innovative and crucial step to address recently identified issues in studying water uptake using stable isotope techniques.</p><p>During a controlled three month drought and rewetting experiment at the Biosphere 2 (B2) enclosed rainforest, a recently developed online method for measuring stem water isotopes (<em>Marshall et al., 2019</em>), namely ‘stem borehole equilibration’, was combined with <em>online</em> monitoring of soil water isotopes and transpired water isotopes as well as sap flow and stem water storage. This enabled us to study root water uptake depths of different tree species and dynamic changes during the dry down and rewetting. After two months of drought, the system was supplied with isotopically labelled water (deuterated water) from down below via a pipe system spanning across the complete B2 rainforest in order to identify deep water uptake of the rainforest trees and hydraulic redistribution.</p><p>Results show that – as expected – all monitored trees responded to the drought by changing their root water uptake towards deeper soil depths while sap flow rates of most trees decreased. When rewetting the system, deep water uptake from the base of B2 (between 2.5m and 4m soil depth) was identified in all large, mature trees (Clitoria faichildiana, Hibiscus tilliaceus, Hura crepitans, Pachira aquatica). No deep water uptake was found in the smaller trees (mainly Pachira aquatica). Furthermore, stem water storage was notably different between species and affected their adaptation to drought and response to rewetting. The labelled water was also identified in the transpired water more than one month after re-starting rainfall at B2.  However, no hydraulic redistribution was identified.</p><p>The holistic approach for monitoring the interactions of soils and plants provides inevitable insights into the adaptation of (enclosed) rainforests under drought and might have implications for natural rainforests. In particular, the capability of large trees to develop deep roots and the role of stem water storage are important elements for adaptation to climatic changes and need to be studied further under ‘real’ conditions.</p><p><strong>References</strong></p><p>Marshall, J.D., Cuntz, M., Beyer, M., Dubbert, M., Kühnhammer, K., 2019. Borehole equilibration: testing a new method to monitor the isotopic composition of tree xylem water in situ. Front. Plant Sci.</p>