Publication
Title
Genotypic variation in transpiration of coppiced poplar during the third rotation of a short-rotation bio-energy culture
Author
Abstract
The productivity of short‐rotation coppice (SRC) plantations with poplar (Populus spp.) strongly depends on soil water availability, which limits the future development of its cultivation, and makes the study of the transpirational water loss particularly timely under the ongoing climate change (more frequent drought and floods). This study assesses the transpiration at different scales (leaf, tree and stand) of four poplar genotypes belonging to different species and from a different genetic background grown under an SRC regime. Measurements were performed for an entire growing season during the third year of the third rotation in a commercial scale multigenotype SRC plantation in Flanders (Belgium). Measurements at leaf level were performed on specific days with a contrasted evaporative demand, temperature and incoming shortwave radiation and included stomatal conductance, stem and leaf water potential. Leaf transpiration and leaf hydraulic conductance were obtained from these measurements. To determine the transpiration at the tree level, single‐stem sap flow using the stem heat balance (SHB) method and daily stem diameter variations were measured during the entire growing season. Sap flow‐based canopy transpiration (Ec), seasonal dry biomass yield, and water use efficiency (WUE; g aboveground dry matter/kg water transpired) of the four poplar genotypes were also calculated. The genotypes had contrasting physiological responses to environmental drivers and to soil conditions. Sap flow was tightly linked to the phenological stage of the trees and to the environmental variables (photosynthetically active radiation and vapor pressure deficit). The total Ec for the 2016 growing season was of 334, 350, 483 and 618 mm for the four poplar genotypes, Bakan, Koster, Oudenberg and Grimminge, respectively. The differences in physiological traits and in transpiration of the four genotypes resulted in different responses of WUE.
Language
English
Source (journal)
GCB bioenergy. - Oxford, 2009, currens
Publication
Oxford : 2018
ISSN
1757-1693 [print]
1757-1707 [online]
DOI
10.1111/GCBB.12526
Volume/pages
10 :8 (2018) , p. 592-607
ISI
000438498300006
Full text (Publisher's DOI)
Full text (open access)
UAntwerpen
Faculty/Department
Research group
Project info
Physiological and environmental controls of water and ozone fluxes in a short rotation poplar plantation: from leaf to tree to ecosystem scale (Physio-Pop).
System analysis of a bio-energy plantation: full greenhouse gas balance and energy accounting. (POPFULL)
Publication type
Subject
Affiliation
Publications with a UAntwerp address
External links
Web of Science
Record
Identifier
Creation 30.07.2018
Last edited 09.10.2023
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