The relationship between tree growth and water availability for a Norway spruce stand has been studied during a 22-year period at a forest in southern Sweden. The results suggested that shortage of soil water has a strong effect on tree growth in an area of southern Sweden with generally high precipitation. Trees growing on sites with deeper groundwater levels showed a larger between-year variation in simulated water stress and stem growth. Furthermore, the larger leaf area caused larger interception and transpiration losses, leading to severer water stress. Simulated yearly stand transpiration increased from 120 to 370 mm, interception losses from tree canopies increased from 160 to 550 mm and soil evaporation decreased from 130 to 20 mm as leaf area index (LAI) increased from 1.5 to 8.5 during a 15-year period. A plot with a large soil moisture content may suffer from continuous but relatively small water stress because of large soil resistance against tree water uptake. On the other hand, this type of soil was shown to resist water deficit during extreme dry periods and to be less sensitive to a lowering of the groundwater level. Simulation of water stress for a common mature spruce forest in southern Sweden for the period from 1975 to 1997 showed that the reports of forest damage emerged following summers with large water stress and that the water stress during the mid-1970s and e
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DOI:
https://doi.org/10.1016/S0378-1127(01)00661-2Altmetric score:
Dimensions Citation Count:
Publication year
2002
Authors
Language
English
Keywords
hydraulic conductivity, soil water deficit, soil water retention, trees, growth, water balance, water stress
Geographic
Nothern Europe
