Hydraulic Balance of a Eucalyptus urophylla Plantation in Response to Periodic Drought in Low Subtropical China

A clear understanding of hydraulic regulation in cultivated plants is crucial for addressing challenges to forest water cycling due to climate changes in low subtropical China. Experiments were conducted to determine the hydrologic balance of a Eucalyptus urophylla plantation in response to periodic drought. Trees displayed lower stomatal conductance (G(S)) and leaf water potentials (Ψ(L)) during the dry periods. A decrease of 22.4% was found for the maximum reference G(S) (G(S) at D = 1 kPa; G(Sref-max)). Accordingly, specific hydraulic conductivity (k(s)) decreased by 45.3 – 65.6% from the wet to the dry season, depending on the tree size. Fairly stable leaf stomatal conductance (g(s)) with decreasing Ψ(L) (Ψ(L) < -1.6 MPa) contributed to the high water-use efficiency (WUE) of this Eucalyptus species. Additionally, the lower stomatal sensitivity (-m = 0.53) in the dry season might also be responsible for the high WUE, since we found an anisohydric behavior that was associated with photosynthetically active radiation (Q(0)). Larger trees were found to use water more efficiently than small trees, due to the higher sensitivity of k(s) to decreasing Ψ(L). This was also verified by the decreasing leaf carbon isotope discrimination (Δ(13)C) with increasing tree diameter. However, further studies are needed to determine the universality of these results for other Eucalyptus species in this region.