An apparatus was designed that permitted acetylene reduction (N(2) fixation) by root nodules to be measured in situ simultaneously with net photosynthesis, dark respiration, and transpiration of the shoot in soybean plants (Glycine max [L.] Merr. var. Beeson). Tests showed that acetylene reduction was linear with time for at least 5 hours, except for the first 30 to 60 minutes. Endogenous ethyl...

[1] Scaling transpiration from trees to larger areas is a fundamental problem in ecohydrology. For scaling stand transpiration from sap flux sensors we asked if plot representativeness depended on plot size and location, the magnitude of environmental drivers, parameter needs for ecosystem models, and whether the goal was to estimate transpiration per unit ground area (EC), per unit leaf area (...

[1] A quantitative model comparison methodology based on deviance information criterion, a Bayesian measure of the trade-off between model complexity and goodness of fit, is developed and demonstrated by comparing semiempirical transpiration models. This methodology accounts for parameter and prediction uncertainties associated with such models and facilitates objective selection of the simples...

We examined relationships between stem diameter, sapwood area, leaf area and transpiration in a 15-year-old mountain ash (Eucalyptus regnans F. Muell.) forest containing silver wattle (Acacia dealbata Link.) as a suppressed overstory species and mountain hickory (Acacia frigescens J.H. Willis) as an understory species. Stem diameter explained 93% of the variation in leaf area, 96% of the variat...

The transpiration stream that passes through a plant may follow an apoplastic route, with low resistance to flow, or a cell-to-cell route, in which cellular membranes impede water flow. However, passage of water through membranes can be facilitated by aquaporins thereby decreasing resistance. We investigated the relationship between transpiration, which can be down-regulated by abscisic acid (A...

Heat shock (HS) at 40 degrees C was given to the root system of Nicotiana tabacum wild type (WT) and to HSIPT transgenic plants transformed with the bacterial cytokinin biosynthesis gene isopentenyltransferase (ipt) cloned behind the heat shock 70 promoter from Drosophila melanogaster. HS increased cytokinin concentrations in roots and leaves of transgenic plants. The effect was smaller in WT p...

At the onset of ripening, some fleshy fruits shift the dominant water import pathway from the xylem to the phloem, but the cause for the decline in xylem inflow remains obscure. This study found that xylem-mobile dye movement into grape berries decreased despite transient increases in berry growth and transpiration during early ripening, whereas outward dye movement continued unless the roots w...

Soil and plant hydraulics constrain ecosystem productivity by setting physical limits to water transport and hence carbon uptake by leaves. While more negative xylem water potentials provide a larger driving force for water transport, they also cause cavitation that limits hydraulic conductivity. An optimum balance between driving force and cavitation occurs at intermediate water potentials, th...

Water-limited ecosystems are characterized by precipitation with low annual totals and significant temporal variability, transpiration that is limited by soil-moisture availability, and infiltration events that may only partially rewet the vegetation root zone. Average transpiration in such environments is controlled by precipitation, and accurate predictions of vegetation health require adequa...

Acer rubrum L., A. saccharum Marsh., Quercus alba L. and Q. rubra L. seedlings subjected to soil and stem base heat treatments showed rapid declines in rates of transpiration and photosynthesis. Reductions in photosynthetic rate were partly attributable to mesophyll inhibition. Quercus seedlings were less able to maintain transpiration and photosynthesis after heat treatment than Acer seedlings...