Effects of nutrition and soil water availability on water use in a Norway spruce stand

Abstract. Water-use efficiency (WUE), defined as the ratio of carbon assimilation over evapotranspiration (ET), is a key metric to assess ecosystem functioning in response to environmental conditions. It remains unclear which factors control this ratio during periods of extended water limitation. Here, we used dry-down events occurring at eddy-covariance flux tower sites in the FLUXNET database as natural experiments to assess if and how decreasing soil-water availability modifies WUE at ecosystem scale. WUE models were evaluated by their performance to predict ET from both the gross primary productivity (GPP), which characterizes carbon assimilation at ecosystem scale, and environmental variables. We first compared two water-use efficiency models: the first was based on the concept of a constant underlying water-use efficiency, and the second augmented the first with a previously detected direct influence of radiation on transpiration. Both models predicting ET strictly from atmospheric covariates failed to reproduce observed ET dynamics for these periods, as they did not explicitly account for the effect of soil-water limitation. We demonstrate that an ET-attenuating soil-water-availability factor in junction with the additional radiation term was necessary to accurately predict ET flux magnitudes and dry-down lengths of these water-limited periods. In an analysis of the attenuation of ET for the 31 included FLUXNET sites, up to 50 % of the observed decline in ET was due to the soil-water-availability effect we identified in this study. We conclude by noting that the rates of ET decline differ significantly between sites with different vegetation and climate types and discuss the dependency of this rate on the variability of seasonal dryness.

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Soil water availability and capacity of nitrogen accumulation influence variations of intrinsic water use efficiency in rice

Journal of Plant Physiology ◽

10.1016/j.jplph.2016.02.003 ◽

2016 ◽

Vol 193 ◽

pp. 26-36 ◽

Cited By ~ 3

Author(s):

Wei Xue ◽

Bhone Nay-Htoon ◽

Steve Lindner ◽

Maren Dubbert ◽

Dennis Otieno ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Water Use Efficiency ◽

Soil Water ◽

Water Use ◽

Water Availability ◽

Soil Water Availability ◽

Nitrogen Accumulation ◽

Intrinsic Water Use Efficiency ◽

Use Efficiency

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Growth, Yield, and Water Use Responses of Peach to Repeated Root Pruning in a Sub-humid Climate

HortScience ◽

10.21273/hortsci.30.3.543 ◽

1995 ◽

Vol 30 (3) ◽

pp. 543-546

Author(s):

D.M. Glenn ◽

S.S. Miller

Keyword(s):

Soil Water ◽

Water Use ◽

Tree Growth ◽

Water Availability ◽

Vegetative Growth ◽

Prunus Persica ◽

Root Zone ◽

Lateral Spread ◽

Soil Water Availability ◽

Root Pruning

The objectives of this 7-year study were to determine the effect of repeated root pruning and irrigation on peach (Prunus persica L. Batsch) tree growth and soil water use. Root pruning began in the year of planting. Peach trees trained to a freestanding “Y” were root-pruned at flowering for 4 years (1985 to 1988) and subsequently at flowering and monthly through July for 3 years (1989 to 1991). Irrigation was withheld or applied the full season or only during stage 3 of fruit growth on root-pruned and non-root-pruned trees. Root pruning limited soil water availability throughout most of the growing season when irrigation was withheld; however, when irrigation was applied, there was no difference in soil water availability. The root length density of peach roots was greatest in the 0 to 30-cm depth, was promoted by irrigation, and was reduced by root pruning in the 0 to 90-cm root zone. Full-season irrigation increased vegetative growth over the nonirrigated treatments. Root pruning had no effect on vegetative growth measured as fresh pruned material. The treatments had no effect on leaf nutrient content, except that root pruning reduced Zn in five consecutive years. Fruit yield was reduced 1 in 5 years by root pruning, and full-season irrigation reduced yield in 3 of 5 years. Repeated root pruning restricted the lateral spread of the root zone and the use of soil resources, yet on the deep soil of this site, restricting the lateral extent of the root zone did not reduce vegetative tree growth.

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Carbon–Water Flux Coupling Under Progressive Drought

10.5194/bg-2018-474 ◽

2018 ◽

Author(s):

Sven Boese ◽

Martin Jung ◽

Nuno Carvalhais ◽

Adriaan J. Teuling ◽

Markus Reichstein

Keyword(s):

Water Use Efficiency ◽

Soil Water ◽

Water Use ◽

Water Availability ◽

Water Flux ◽

Carbon Assimilation ◽

Soil Water Availability ◽

Natural Experiments ◽

Dry Down ◽

Use Efficiency

Abstract. Water-use efficiency, defined as the ratio of carbon assimilation over evapotranspiration (ET), is a key metric to assess ecosystem functioning in response to environmental conditions. It remains unclear which factors control this ratio during periods of extended water-limitation, and current semi-empirical water-use efficiency models fail to reproduce observed ET dynamics for these periods. Here, we use dry-down events occurring at eddy-covariance flux tower sites in the FLUXNET database as natural experiments to assess if and how decreasing soil-water availability modifies water-use efficiency on ecosystem scale. We demonstrate that an attenuating soil-water availability factor in junction with a previously discovered additive radiation term is necessary to accurately predict ET flux magnitudes and dry-down lengths of these water-limited periods. In an analysis of the attenuation, 20–33 % of the observed decline in ET was due to the previously unconsidered soil-water availability effect. We conclude by noting the rates of ET decline differ significantly between FLUXNET sites with tall and short vegetation types and discuss the dependency of this rate on the variability of seasonal dryness.

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Maize water use efficiency and evapotranspiration response to N supply under contrasting soil water availability

Field Crops Research ◽

10.1016/j.fcr.2015.03.017 ◽

2015 ◽

Vol 178 ◽

pp. 8-15 ◽

Cited By ~ 31

Author(s):

M. Hernández ◽

L. Echarte ◽

A. Della Maggiora ◽

M. Cambareri ◽

P. Barbieri ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Water Use Efficiency ◽

Soil Water ◽

Water Use ◽

Water Availability ◽

Soil Water Availability ◽

N Supply ◽

Use Efficiency

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Modeling stand water use response to soil water availability and groundwater level for a mature Populus tomentosa plantation located on the North China Plain

Forest Ecology and Management ◽

10.1016/j.foreco.2017.02.016 ◽

2017 ◽

Vol 391 ◽

pp. 63-74 ◽

Cited By ~ 11

Author(s):

Benye Xi ◽

Nan Di ◽

Ye Wang ◽

Jie Duan ◽

Liming Jia

Keyword(s):

Soil Water ◽

Water Use ◽

Groundwater Level ◽

Water Availability ◽

North China Plain ◽

North China ◽

Populus Tomentosa ◽

Soil Water Availability ◽

The North ◽

The North China Plain

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Clonal Behavior in Response to Soil Water Availability in Tempranillo Grapevine cv: From Plant Growth to Water Use Efficiency

Agronomy ◽

10.3390/agronomy10060862 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 10 (6) ◽

pp. 862

Author(s):

Ignacio Tortosa ◽

Jose M. Escalona ◽

Guillermo Toro ◽

Cyril Douthe ◽

Hipolito Medrano

Keyword(s):

Plant Growth ◽

Water Use Efficiency ◽

Soil Water ◽

Water Use ◽

Water Availability ◽

Growth Parameters ◽

Biomass Accumulation ◽

Net Photosynthesis ◽

Soil Water Availability ◽

Use Efficiency

Climate change threatens worldwide grapevine production, especially in Mediterranean areas. To assume this challenge, the replacement of plant material to choose one more adapted to the new environmental conditions has been proposed as one of the possible solutions. Thus, the study of genetic variability in water-use efficiency (WUE) is needed to guarantee the survival of viticulture in those critical areas. In this study, the variability of WUE in 23 Tempranillo clones growth in pots and submitted to well-watered conditions and moderate water stress was studied along two consecutive years. Leaf net photosynthesis (AN), stomatal conductance (gs), and plant growth parameters were measured, in addition the instrisic WUE (AN/gs), biomass production, and water consumed were calculated. Results show a clear genotype effect for most of the studied parameters, but, with an important year by year variability. We identified different clonal behavior in response to soil water availability, that permits to classify them as water-savers vs water-spenders. In general, there was no found relationship between leaf and plant WUE, even some genotypes as 232 or 1048 were coincident in higher leaf WUE showed highly productive in terms of biomass accumulation per unit of water applied.

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