Southern Research Station

Title: Leaf water relations and sapflow in eastern cottonwood (Populus deltoides Bartr.) trees planted for phytoremediation of a groundwater pollutant

Author: Vose, James M.; Swank, Wayne T.; Harvey, Gregory J.; Clinton, Barton D.; Sobek, Christine

Date: 2000

Source: International Journal of Phytoremediation. 2(1): 53-73.

Description: Plants that remediate groundwater pollutants may offer a feasible alternative to the traditional and more expensive practices. Because its success depends on water use, this approach requires a complete understanding of species-specific transpiration patterns. The objectives of this study were (1) to quantify tree and stand-level transpiration in two age classes (whips and 1-year-old seedlings) of eastern cottonwoods (Populus deltoides Bartr.), and (2) to determine climatic and physiological driving variables at the Carswell Air Force Base in central Texas, USA. Trichloroethylene (TCE) was detected in shallow (2 to 3 m) groundwater in the early 1980Â’s. Cottonwood whips and 1-year-old potted seedlings were planted in two separate 0.15-ha plantations in spring 1996. Sapflow gauges determined sapflow on 14 to 16 trees in May, June, July, August, and October 1997. Without adjusting for differences in tree size, sapflow rates were greater for 1-year-old trees than whips (peak values were 0.75 and 0.53 kg hr^-1 tree^-1, respectively). When adjusted for tree size, the pattern reversed, with whips having significantly greater sapflow rates than 1-year-old trees (peak values were 0.053 and 0.045 kg cm^-2 hr^-1, respectively). Temporal variation (diurnal and seasonal) in sapflow rates was principally related to VPD [vapor pressure deficit], solar radiation, and leaf conductance. Extrapolating to the stand and across the growing season, the plantations transpired ~25 cm of water. Early attainment of high levels of transpiration indicates that the stands will transpire considerably more water as leaf area and root exploitation increases with stand development.

Keywords: 

View and Print this Publication (363 KB)

Pristine Version:  An uncaptured or "pristine" version of this publication is available. It has not been subjected to OCR (Optical Character Recognition) and therefore does not have any errors in the text. However it is a larger file size and some people may experience long download times. The "pristine" version of this publication is available here:

View and Print the PRISTINE copy of this Publication (2.1 MB)

Publication Notes: 

• We recommend that you also print this page and attach it to the printout of the article, to retain the full citation information.
• This article was written and prepared by U.S. Government employees on official time, and is therefore in the public domain.

 Get the latest version of the Adobe Acrobat reader or Acrobat Reader for Windows with Search and Accessibility

Citation

Vose, James M.; Swank, Wayne T.; Harvey, Gregory J.; Clinton, Barton D.; Sobek, Christine  2000.  Leaf water relations and sapflow in eastern cottonwood (Populus deltoides Bartr.) trees planted for phytoremediation of a groundwater pollutant.   International Journal of Phytoremediation. 2(1): 53-73.