At the leaf scale, it is a long-held assumption that stomata close at night in the absence of light, causing transpiration to decrease to zero. Energy balance models and evapotranspiration equations often rely on net radiation as an upper bound, and some models reduce evapotranspiration to zero at night when there is no solar radiation. Emerging research is showing, however, that transpiration ...

Our objective was to gain a detailed understanding of how photosynthetically active radiation (PAR), vapor pressure deficit (D) and soil water interact to control transpiration in the dominant canopy species of a mixed hardwood forest in northern Lower Michigan. An improved understanding of how these environmental factors affect whole-tree water use in unmanaged ecosystems is necessary in asses...

Use of Granier-style heat dissipation sensors to measure sap flow is common in plant physiology, ecology and hydrology. There has been concern that any change to the original Granier design invalidates the empirical relationship between sap flux density and the temperature difference between the probes. Here, we compared daily water use estimates from gravimetric measurements with values from v...

In a series of experiments with Ricinus communis, abscisic acid (ABA) concentrations in tissues and transport saps, its de novo biosynthesis, long-distance transport, and metabolism (degradation) were affected by nutritional conditions, nitrogen (N) source, and nutrient limitation, or salt stress. In the present study these data were statistically re-evaluated, and new correlations presented th...

Freezing of stem sections and entire twigs of hemlock (Tsuga canadensis) has been demonstrated to occur without increasing the resistance to the movement of water through the frozen part after rewarming. This was interpreted to mean that freezing did not produce cavitation in the xylem sap even though A) the sap was unquestionably frozen; B) it contained dissolved gases; and C) it was under ten...

Allergic asthma is associated with the recruitment of activated inflammatory cells after allergen challenge. Surface expression of CD14 has been proposed as a marker of cell activation and differentiation. We therefore measured CD14 expression on activated macrophages and granulocytes as well as soluble CD14 (sCD14) concentrations in peripheral blood and bronchoalveolar lavage (BAL) following s...

Manual and automated dendrometers, and thermal dissipation probes were used to measure stem increment and sap flow for loblolly pine (Pinus taeda L.) trees attacked by southern pine beetle (Dendroctonus frontalis Zimm.) in east Tennessee, USA. Seasonal-long measurements with manual dendrometers indicated linear increases in stem circumference from April through June. Changes in stem circumferen...

The present study had as its main objective the evaluation of the heat balance method in young orange and mango plants under protected environment. The work was carried out at Embrapa Cassava and Tropical Fruits, Cruz das Almas, BA. Later on, estimates of sap flow were conducted for two mango plants cultivated in pots of 15 and 50 L installed on weighting platforms of 45 and 140 kg; sap flow wa...

The information on transpiration is vital for sustaining fragile ecosystem in arid/semiarid environment, including the Horqin Sandy Land (HSL) located in northeast China. However, such information is scarce in existing literature. The objectives of this study were to: (1) measure sap flow of selected individual stems of two sand-fixing plants, namely Salix gordejevii and Caragana microphylla, i...