Canopy transpiration of a Pinus canariensis forest at the tree line: implications for its distribution under predicted climate warming

Canopy transpiration (E c) of a 50-year-old Pinus canariensis Chr. Sm. Ex DC. stand at tree line in Tenerife, Canary Islands, was estimated continuously throughout a year from March 1, 2008, to February 28, 2009, by means of xylem sap flow measurements. E c varied markedly throughout the entire year...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:European journal of forest research 2014-05, Vol.133 (3), p.491-500
Main Authors: Brito, Patricia, Lorenzo, Jose R, González-Rodríguez, Águeda Mª, Morales, Domingo, Wieser, Gerhard, Jimenez, Maria S
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Abiotic stress
Biomedical and Life Sciences
canopy
Climate change
Drought
forest ecosystems
Forestry
Forests
Global warming
Life Sciences
Original Paper
Pinus canariensis
plant available water
Plant Ecology
Plant Sciences
sap flow
soil water content
transpiration
treeline
water stress
xylem
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Summary:Canopy transpiration (E c) of a 50-year-old Pinus canariensis Chr. Sm. Ex DC. stand at tree line in Tenerife, Canary Islands, was estimated continuously throughout a year from March 1, 2008, to February 28, 2009, by means of xylem sap flow measurements. E c varied markedly throughout the entire year generally following the seasonal trends in soil water availability and varied between 0.89 mm day⁻¹ under the conditions of non-limiting soil water availability and close to zero under soil drought. This is because canopy conductance declined significantly with increasing evaporative demand and thus significantly reduced tree water loss, and this decrease was more pronounced during the soil drought. Total annual E c was 79.6 mm, which is significantly below the values estimated for other Mediterranean forest ecosystems and even 70 % lower than the value estimated for a P. canariensis forest at 1,650 m a.s.l. where the soil water content was higher than at the tree line site. Therefore, these results highlighted the importance of drought stress in tree line ecotone and should be taken more into account in semiarid tree lines.
ISSN:1612-4669
1612-4677
DOI:10.1007/s10342-014-0779-5