We examined the extent of osmotic adjustment and the changes in relative water content (RWC) and transpiration rate (i.e., relative stomatal function) that occur in water-deficit-conditioned 6-year-old Thuja occidentalis L. (eastern white cedar) trees in response to a severe drought. Trees conditioned by successive cycles of mild or moderate nonlethal water stress (conditioning) and nonconditio...

The principles are discussed of bench terracing and deep tined tillage, on the level contour, appliedto selected shallow soils on steep slopes of the Ifafa area on the Natal south coast. Results from 36 month old timber (Eucalyptus grandis) and [4 month old sugarcane (N16) grown on bench terraces are reported and compared with current practices. The implications of this site-specific technique ...

Measurements of stream flow around the world have documented an increase in the amount of water that runs off the continents and returns to the ocean. This trend has been occurring since the beginning of the century, yet changes in precipitation over land do not sufficiently account for this increase. On page 835 of this issue, Gedney et al. identify an important contributor to increasing globa...

[1] Relative impacts of multiple global change factors on ecohydrological processes in terrestrial ecosystems have not been carefully studied. In this study, we used a terrestrial ecosystem (TECO) model to examine effects of three global change factors (i.e., climate warming, elevated CO2, and altered precipitation) individually and in combination on runoff, evaporation, transpiration, rooting ...

In situ volumetric soil-water contents were measured on 11 days at 0.20 m depth intervals to 1.0 m in a field experiment with four replicates of a dry-land corn hybrid (Pioneer 3140) at plant populations of 37, 49, and 62 thousand plants haÿ1. These measurements were used to estimate total soil-water losses in each of the 12 field plots for each of the 10 measurement intervals. The area of the ...

The impact of interannual variability of precipitation and potential evaporation on the long-term mean annual evapotranspiration as well as on the interannual variability of evapotranspiration is studied using a stochastic soil moisture model within the Budyko framework. Results indicate that given the same long-term mean annual precipitation and potential evaporation, including interannual var...