Artificial Top Soil Drought Hardly Affects Water Use of Picea abies and Larix decidua Saplings at the Treeline in the Austrian Alps

Autor: Gerhard Wieser, Walter Oberhuber, Andreas Gruber, Florian Oberleitner, Roland Hasibeder, Michael Bahn
Jazyk: angličtina
Rok vydání: 2019
Předmět:
Zdroj: Forests, Vol 10, Iss 9, p 777 (2019)
Druh dokumentu: article
ISSN: 1999-4907
DOI: 10.3390/f10090777
Popis: This study quantified the effect of shallow soil water availability on sap flow density (Qs) of 4.9 ± 1.5 m tall Picea abies and Larix decidua saplings at treeline in the Central Tyrolean Alps, Austria. We installed a transparent roof construction around three P. abies and three L. decidua saplings to prevent precipitation from reaching the soil surface without notably influencing the above ground microclimate. Three additional saplings from each species served as controls in the absence of any manipulation. Roofing significantly reduced soil water availability at a 5−10 cm soil depth, while soil temperature was not affected. Sap flow density (using Granier-type thermal dissipation probes) and environmental parameters were monitored throughout three growing seasons. In both species investigated, three years of rain exclusion did not considerably reduce Qs. The lack of a significant Qs-soil water content correlation in P. abies and L. decidua saplings indicates sufficient water supply, suggesting that whole plant water loss of saplings at treeline primarily depends on evaporative demand. Future work should test whether the observed drought resistance of saplings at the treeline also holds for adult trees.
Databáze: Directory of Open Access Journals