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Internal water storage within trees can be a critical reservoir that helps trees overcome both short- and long-duration environmental stresses. We monitored changes in internal tree water storage in a ponderosa pine on daily and seasonal scales using moisture probes, a dendrometer, and time-lapse electrical resistivity imaging (ERI). These data were used to investigate how patterns of in-tree water storage are affected by changes in sapflow rates, soil moisture, and meteorologic factors such as vapor pressure deficit. Measurements of xylem fluid electrical conductivity were constant in the early growing season while inverted sapwood electrical conductivity steadily increased, suggesting that increases in sapwood electrical conductivity did not result from an increase in xylem fluid electrical conductivity. Seasonal increases in stem electrical conductivity corresponded with seasonal increases in trunk diameter, suggesting that increased electrical conductivity may result from new growth. On the daily scale, changes in inverted sapwood electrical conductivity correspond to changes in sapwood moisture. Wavelet analyses indicated that lag times between inverted electrical conductivity and sapflow increased after storm events, suggesting that as soils wetted, reliance on internal water storage decreased, as did the time required to refill daily deficits in internal water storage. We found short time lags between sapflow and inverted electrical conductivity with dry conditions, when ponderosa pine are known to reduce stomatal conductance to avoid xylem cavitation. A decrease in diel amplitudes of inverted sapwood electrical conductivity during dry periods suggest that the ponderosa pine relied on internal water storage to supplement transpiration demands, but as drought conditions progressed, tree water storage contributions to transpiration decreased. Time-lapse ERI- and wavelet-analysis results highlight the important role internal tree water storage plays in supporting transpiration throughout a day and during periods of declining subsurface moisture.
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This content will become publicly available on May 1, 2025
The influence of climate and management on transpiration of residential trees during a bark beetle infestation
Abstract Trees in residential environments are affected by a unique combination of environmental and anthropogenic factors, including occasional insect outbreaks that are increasing in frequency and severity due to climate change. We studied loblolly pine trees infested by bark beetles in a residential backyard in a southeastern US city. We investigated the responses of tree and stand‐level transpiration to environmental factors (solar radiation, atmospheric vapor pressure deficit, and soil moisture), severe weather events (strong winds and heavy storms), bark beetle infestation, and human actions (insecticide treatments and tree removals). We used constant heat dissipation probes to make continuous sap flux measurements (J0) in tree boles. Over 22 months of the study,J0of trees with confirmed infestation decreased from ~90 to ~60 g cm−2 day−1andJ0of the rest of the trees increased from ~60 to ~80 g cm−2 day−1. One infested tree died, as itsJ0steadily declined from 110 g cm−2 day−1to zero over the course of 2 months, followed by a loss of foliage and visible signs of severe infestation 6 months later.J0was sensitive to variations in incoming solar radiation and atmospheric vapor pressure deficit. In most trees,J0linearly responded to soil water content during drought periods. Yet despite complex dynamics ofJ0variations, plot‐level transpiration at the end of the study was the same as at the beginning due to compensatory increases in tree transpiration rates. This study highlights the intrinsic interplay of environmental, biotic, and anthropogenic factors in residential environments where human actions may directly mediate ecosystem responses to climate.
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- Award ID(s):
- 2325166
- PAR ID:
- 10528216
- Publisher / Repository:
- Ecological Society of America
- Date Published:
- Journal Name:
- Ecosphere
- Volume:
- 15
- Issue:
- 5
- ISSN:
- 2150-8925
- Format(s):
- Medium: X
- Sponsoring Org:
- National Science Foundation
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