Long-term Water Use Efficiency of Young Spruce Forest

0382198 - ÚVGZ 2013 RIV BE eng J - Journal Article
Slípková, Romana - Pokorný, Radek
Long-term Water Use Efficiency of Young Spruce Forest.
Acta Horticulturae. Roč. 951, č. 1 (2012), s. 293-300. ISSN 0567-7572.
[International Workshop On Sap Flow /8./. Volterra, 08.05.2011-12.05.2011]
R&D Projects: GA MŽP(CZ) SP/2D1/70/08; GA MŽP(CZ) SP/2D1/93/07; GA MŠMT(CZ) ED1.1.00/02.0073
Institutional research plan: CEZ:AV0Z60870520
Keywords : transpiration * total aboveground biomass increment * growth dynamic
Subject RIV: EH - Ecology, Behaviour

Long-term water use efficiency (WUE) describes water utilization by plants on different levels of biosphere organization. We have performed a WUE evaluation in two young spruce forests of different stand densities, sparse (FS) and dense (FD) from 1998 to 2003. WUE in this study was calculated as a ratio of total aboveground biomass increment (TB) and transpiration (T) on annual time scale. Two approaches were used for total biomass evaluation: i) TBI - from stem diameter at the breast height (DBH) increment dynamic and its allometry with TB, and ii) TBII - as a sum of leaf, branch and stem biomass. Growth dynamic of branch biomass was related to tree height increment and leaf biomass to the leaf area index. TBI was found significantly higher than TBII in FD. However, WUE was not significantly different among the stands and approaches. WUE with TBI (WUEI) used were 4.30 g/L and 4.68 g/L in FS and FD, WUE with use TBII (WUEII) 4.17 g/L and 4.14 g/L in FS and FD, respectively. WUE of FS and FS was similar due to the identical climate conditions, stand age and genetic origin of the trees. We can recommend TBI approach due to lower instrumentation demands and accurate results in the same time.
Permanent Link: http://hdl.handle.net/11104/0212491