Relating water use to morphology and environment of Nothofagus from the world’s most southern forests
A pronounced environmental gradient dictates the dominance of Nothofagus in the foothills on the eastern side of the Andes Mountains in Patagonia, Argentina. Below 50° southern latitude, open forests of Nothofagus Antarctica (ñire) dominate the landscape towards the Patagonian steppe where annual ra...
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ftunivwestsyd:oai:researchdirect.westernsydney.edu.au:uws_20801 2023-05-15T13:34:53+02:00 Relating water use to morphology and environment of Nothofagus from the world’s most southern forests Pfautsch, Sebastian (R17431) Peri, Pablo L. Macfarlane, Craig Ogtrop, Floris van Adams, Mark A. 2014 print 12 http://handle.uws.edu.au:8081/1959.7/541409 https://doi.org/10.1007/s00468-013-0935-4 eng eng Germany, Springer Trees: Structure and Function--0931-1890 Vol. 28 Issue. 1 pp: 125-136 070508 - Tree Nutrition and Physiology 820104 - Native Forests journal article 2014 ftunivwestsyd https://doi.org/10.1007/s00468-013-0935-4 2020-12-05T17:35:05Z A pronounced environmental gradient dictates the dominance of Nothofagus in the foothills on the eastern side of the Andes Mountains in Patagonia, Argentina. Below 50° southern latitude, open forests of Nothofagus Antarctica (ñire) dominate the landscape towards the Patagonian steppe where annual rainfall is low. With increasing rates of annual rainfall, corresponding with an increase in elevation, closed forests of N. pumilio (lenga) replace those of ñire. During a short-term study we assessed differences in stand structure and examined environmental, structural and functional traits related to tree water use of ñire and lenga. Sap velocity reached similar maximum rates (95–100 L m-2 sapwood h-1), but whole-tree water use (Q) was significantly lower in ñire (8–13 L day-1 tree-1) compared to lenga (20–90 L day-1 tree-1) resulting in lower stand transpiration (ñire: 0.51 mm day-1; lenga: 3.42 mm day-1) despite similar tree densities. Related to this, wind speed had a particularly significant impact on Q of ñire, but not lenga. The ratio of leaf area to sapwood area (AL/AS) clearly identified ñire to be more structurally proficient at conserving water. While stem diameter (DBH) and crown area (AC) were well related in both species, only lenga exhibited relationships between variables related to tree allometry and physiology (AC/Q, DBH/Q). Our results provide the first ecophysiological characterization of the two Nothofagus species that define important and widespread ecosystems in southern Patagonia (not only below 50°S), and provide useful data to scale water use of both species from tree to stand. Article in Journal/Newspaper Antarc* Antarctica University of Western Sydney (UWS): Research Direct Argentina Patagonia Trees 28 1 125 136 |
institution |
Open Polar |
collection |
University of Western Sydney (UWS): Research Direct |
op_collection_id |
ftunivwestsyd |
language |
English |
topic |
070508 - Tree Nutrition and Physiology 820104 - Native Forests |
spellingShingle |
070508 - Tree Nutrition and Physiology 820104 - Native Forests Pfautsch, Sebastian (R17431) Peri, Pablo L. Macfarlane, Craig Ogtrop, Floris van Adams, Mark A. Relating water use to morphology and environment of Nothofagus from the world’s most southern forests |
topic_facet |
070508 - Tree Nutrition and Physiology 820104 - Native Forests |
description |
A pronounced environmental gradient dictates the dominance of Nothofagus in the foothills on the eastern side of the Andes Mountains in Patagonia, Argentina. Below 50° southern latitude, open forests of Nothofagus Antarctica (ñire) dominate the landscape towards the Patagonian steppe where annual rainfall is low. With increasing rates of annual rainfall, corresponding with an increase in elevation, closed forests of N. pumilio (lenga) replace those of ñire. During a short-term study we assessed differences in stand structure and examined environmental, structural and functional traits related to tree water use of ñire and lenga. Sap velocity reached similar maximum rates (95–100 L m-2 sapwood h-1), but whole-tree water use (Q) was significantly lower in ñire (8–13 L day-1 tree-1) compared to lenga (20–90 L day-1 tree-1) resulting in lower stand transpiration (ñire: 0.51 mm day-1; lenga: 3.42 mm day-1) despite similar tree densities. Related to this, wind speed had a particularly significant impact on Q of ñire, but not lenga. The ratio of leaf area to sapwood area (AL/AS) clearly identified ñire to be more structurally proficient at conserving water. While stem diameter (DBH) and crown area (AC) were well related in both species, only lenga exhibited relationships between variables related to tree allometry and physiology (AC/Q, DBH/Q). Our results provide the first ecophysiological characterization of the two Nothofagus species that define important and widespread ecosystems in southern Patagonia (not only below 50°S), and provide useful data to scale water use of both species from tree to stand. |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
Pfautsch, Sebastian (R17431) Peri, Pablo L. Macfarlane, Craig Ogtrop, Floris van Adams, Mark A. |
author_facet |
Pfautsch, Sebastian (R17431) Peri, Pablo L. Macfarlane, Craig Ogtrop, Floris van Adams, Mark A. |
author_sort |
Pfautsch, Sebastian (R17431) |
title |
Relating water use to morphology and environment of Nothofagus from the world’s most southern forests |
title_short |
Relating water use to morphology and environment of Nothofagus from the world’s most southern forests |
title_full |
Relating water use to morphology and environment of Nothofagus from the world’s most southern forests |
title_fullStr |
Relating water use to morphology and environment of Nothofagus from the world’s most southern forests |
title_full_unstemmed |
Relating water use to morphology and environment of Nothofagus from the world’s most southern forests |
title_sort |
relating water use to morphology and environment of nothofagus from the world’s most southern forests |
publisher |
Germany, Springer |
publishDate |
2014 |
url |
http://handle.uws.edu.au:8081/1959.7/541409 https://doi.org/10.1007/s00468-013-0935-4 |
geographic |
Argentina Patagonia |
geographic_facet |
Argentina Patagonia |
genre |
Antarc* Antarctica |
genre_facet |
Antarc* Antarctica |
op_relation |
Trees: Structure and Function--0931-1890 Vol. 28 Issue. 1 pp: 125-136 |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.1007/s00468-013-0935-4 |
container_title |
Trees |
container_volume |
28 |
container_issue |
1 |
container_start_page |
125 |
op_container_end_page |
136 |
_version_ |
1766058749786587136 |