Papers published in Hydrology and Earth System Sciences Discussions are under open-access review for the journal Hydrology and Earth System Sciences Abstract Stand transpiration was measured during the 2003 and 2004 growing seasons using heat dissipation sap flow sensors in a Scots pine (Pinus sylvestris L.) and a pubescent oak (Quercus pubescens Willd.) forest located in a montane area of the ...

Stand transpiration was measured during the 2003 and 2004 growing seasons using heat dissipation sap flow sensors in a Scots pine (Pinus sylvestris L.) and a pubescent oak (Quercus pubescens Willd.) forests located in a montane area of the Eastern Pyrenees (NE Spain). The first aim of the study was to assess the differences in quantitative estimates of transpiration (Ec) and the response to eva...

We compared seedling water relations of three Mediterranean Quercus species (the evergreen shrub Q. coccifera L., the evergreen tree Q. ilex L. subsp. ballota (Desf.) Samp. and the deciduous or marcescent tree Q. faginea L.). We also explored seedling potential for acclimation to contrasting growing conditions. In March, 1-year-old seedlings of the three species were planted in pots and grown o...

Plants may exhibit some degree of acclimation after experiencing drought, but physiological adjustments to consecutive cycles of drought and re-watering (recovery) have scarcely been studied. The Mediterranean evergreen holm oak (Q. ilex) and the semi-deciduous rockrose (C. albidus) showed some degree of acclimation after the first of three drought cycles (S1, S2, and S3). For instance, during ...

Drought is the main selection agent in Mediterranean ecosystems and it has been suggested as an important evolutionary force responsible for population diversification in these types of environments. However, population divergence in quantitative traits can be driven by either natural selection, genetic drift or both. To investigate the roles of these forces on among-population divergence in ec...

Fire suppression has removed an important ecological force previously responsible for shaping many plant communities throughout the world. Upland areas of northcentral Mississippi that have been protected from fire are now closed-canopy forests including species known to be uncommon as bearing/witness trees in upland portions of the landscape (historically off-site species) and sparse ground co...

Carbon and water cycling of forests contribute significantly to the Earth's overall biogeochemical cycling and may be affected by disturbance and climate change. As a larger body of research becomes available about leaf-level, ecosystem and regional scale effects of disturbances on forest ecosystems, a more mechanistic understanding is developing which can improve modeling efforts. Here, we sum...

The influence of copper on leaf litter decomposition was examined in experimental streams. Controls and three levels of contamination (5, 25, and 75 microg/L) were tested in triplicate in 20-m-long mesocosms. Equal quantities of alder, maple, and oak leaves were enclosed in mesh bags and placed in the upper and lower mesocosm sections that exhibited different habitat characteristics (shallow wi...

The Ent Terrestrial Biosphere Model (Ent TBM) is a mixed-canopy dynamic global vegetation model developed specifically for coupling with land surface hydrology and general circulation models (GCMs). This study describes the leaf phenology submodel implemented in the Ent TBM version 1.0.1.0.0 coupled to the carbon allocation scheme of the Ecosystem Demography (ED) model. The phenology submodel a...

1. The distribution, abundance and population dynamics of herbivorous insects may be affected by trophic interactions, by abiotic influences, or by intraspecific processes. Relatively little is known about how trophic influences vary across space. Here, we investigate spatial variation in mortality in the oak-feeding leaf miner Tischeria ekebladella as attributable to individual causal agents. ...