In most tree species, xylem consists of two different functional parts: sapwood and heartwood. While sapwood, as the flowpath for sap, has received more attention in isotope studies assessing water sources accessed by trees (e.g. soil from depths, groundwater, stream or a mixture these), much remains unknown about heartwood possible exchange between parts. We investigated four species (Fagus sy...

C. Andrade1,2, J. A. Santos2, R. Trigo3, and J. Corte-Real4 1Polytechnic Institute of Tomar, Mathematic and Physics Department, Quinta do Contador, Estrada da Serra, 2300-313 Tomar, Portugal 2Centre for the Research and Technology of Agro-Environmental and Biological Sciences, University of Trás-os-Montes e Alto Douro, P.O. Box 1013, 5001-801 Vila Real, Portugal 3University of Lisbon, Geophysic...

[1] In groundwater-dependent ecosystems, interactions between rainfall, water table fluctuations, and vegetation are exerted through the soil water content. The dynamics of soil moisture, in fact, are strongly coupled to fluctuations of the water table and, together, they control the overall ecosystem dynamics. We propose here a simple process-based stochastic model for the study of soil moistu...

[1] Highly organized vegetation patterns can be found in a number of landscapes around the world. In recent years, several authors have investigated the processes underlying vegetation pattern formation. Patterns that are induced neither by heterogeneity in soil properties nor by the local topography are generally explained as the result of spatial self-organization resulting from ‘‘symmetry-br...

Abstract Through their rooting profiles and water demands, plants affect the distribution of in soil profile. Simultaneously, content controls plant development interactions within between communities. These plant-soil feedbacks might vary across communities with different depths species composition. In semiarid environments, understanding these differences will be essential to predict how ecos...