Use of temporal patterns in vapor pressure deficit to explain spatial autocorrelation dynamics in tree transpiration
Jonathan D. Adelman (1), Brent E. Ewers (1, 2) and D. Scott MacKay (3)
1. Department of Botany, University of Wyoming, Laramie, WY 82071, USA / 2. Corresponding author () / 3. Department of Geography, State University of New York, Buffalo, NY, USA / Received May 3, 2007; accepted June 18, 2007; published online February 1, 2008
Summary
To quantify the relationship between temporal and spatial variation in tree transpiration, we measured sap flow in 129 trees
with constant-heat sap flow sensors in a subalpine forest in southern Wyoming, USA. The forest stand was located along a soil
water gradient from a stream side to near the top of a ridge. The stand was dominated by Pinus contorta Dougl. ex Loud. with Picea engelmannii Parry ex Engelm and Abies lasiocarpa (Hook.) Nutt. present near the stream and scattered individuals of Populus tremuloides Michx. throughout the stand. We used a cyclic sampling design that maximized spatial information with a minimum number of
samples for semivariogram analyses. All species exhibited previously established responses to environmental variables in which
the dominant driver was a saturating response to vapor pressure deficit (D). This response to D is predictable from tree hydraulic theory in which stomatal conductance declines as D increases to prevent excessive cavitation. The degree to which stomatal conductance declines with D is dependent on both species and individual tree physiology and increases the variability in transpiration as D increases. We quantified this variability spatially by calculating the spatial autocorrelation within 0.2-kPa D bins. Across 11 bins of D, spatial autocorrelation in individual tree transpiration was inversely correlated to D and dropped from 45 to 20 m. Spatial autocorrelation was much less for transpiration per unit leaf area and not significant
for transpiration per unit sapwood area suggesting that spatial autocorrelation within a particular D bin could be explained by tree size. Future research should focus on the mechanisms underlying tree size spatial variability,
and the potentially broad applicability of the inverse relationship between D and spatial autocorrelation in tree transpiration.
Keywords:
geostatistics, sapwood area, scaling, tree hydraulics.
