Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

In situ separation of root hydraulic redistribution of soil water from liquid and vapor transport

  • Physiological ecology - original paper
  • Published:
Oecologia Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

Nocturnal increases in water potential (ψ) and water content (θ) in the upper soil profile are often attributed to root water efflux, a process termed hydraulic redistribution (HR). However, unsaturated liquid or vapor flux of water between soil layers independent of roots also contributes to the daily recovery in θ (Δθ), confounding efforts to determine the actual magnitude of HR. We estimated liquid (J l) and vapor (J v) soil water fluxes and their impacts on quantifying HR in a seasonally dry ponderosa pine (Pinus ponderosa) forest by applying existing datasets of ψ, θ and temperature (T) to soil water transport equations. As soil drying progressed, unsaturated hydraulic conductivity declined rapidly such that J l was irrelevant (<2E−05 mm h−1 at 0–60 cm depths) to total water flux by early August. Vapor flux was estimated to be the highest in upper soil (0–15 cm), driven by large T fluctuations, and confounded the role of HR, if any, in nocturnal θ dynamics. Within the 15–35 cm layer, J v contributed up to 40% of hourly increases in nocturnal soil moisture. While both HR and net soil water flux between adjacent layers contribute to θ in the 15–65 cm soil layer, HR was the dominant process and accounted for at least 80% of the daily recovery in θ. The absolute magnitude of HR is not easily quantified, yet total diurnal fluctuations in upper soil water content can be quantified and modeled, and remain highly applicable for establishing the magnitude and temporal dynamics of total ecosystem water flux.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Fig. 1
Fig. 2
Fig. 3
Fig. 4
Fig. 5
Fig. 6
Fig. 7
Fig. 8
Fig. 9

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  • Agam (Ninari) N, Berliner PR (2004) Diurnal water content changes in the bare soil of a coastal desert. J Hydrometeorol 5:922–933

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Baumhardt RL, Lascano RJ, Evett SR (2000) Soil material, temperature, and salinity effects on calibration of multisensor capacitance probes. Soil Sci Soc Am J 64:1940–1946

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Bittelli M, Ventura F, Campbell GS, Snyder RL, Gallegati F, Pisa PR (2008) Coupling of heat, water vapor, and liquid water fluxes to compute evaporation in bare soils. J Hydrol 362:191–205

    Google Scholar 

  • Brooks RH, Corey AT (1964) Hydraulic properties of porous media Hydrology Paper no 3. Civil Engineering Department, Colorado State University, Fort Collins

    Google Scholar 

  • Brooks JR, Meinzer FC, Coulombe R, Gregg J (2002) Hydraulic redistribution of soil water during summer drought in two contrasting Pacific Northwest coniferous forests. Tree Physiol 22:1107–1117

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Brooks JR, Meinzer FC, Warren JM, Domec JC, Coulombe R (2006) Hydraulic redistribution in a Douglas-fir forest: lessons from system manipulations. Plant Cell Environ 29:138–150

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Brown RW, Bartos DL (1982) A calibration model for screen-caged Peltier thermocouple psychrometers. USDA For Serv Res Pap INT-293 Ogden, UT, Intermt For and Range Exp Stn

  • Bruce RR, Thomas AW, Harper LA, Leonard RA (1977) Diurnal soil water regime in the tilled plow layer of a warm humid climate. Soil Sci Soc Am J 41:455–460

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Buck AL (1981) New equations for computing vapor pressure and enhancement factor. J Appl Meteorol 20:1527–1532

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Burgess SSO, Pate JS, Adams MA, Dawson TE (2000) Seasonal water acquisition and redistribution in the Australian woody phreatophyte, Banksia prinotes. Ann Bot (London) 85:215–224

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Cahill AT, Parlange MB (1998) On water vapor transport in field soils. Water Resour Res 34:731–739

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Caldwell MM, Richards JH (1989) Hydraulic lift: water efflux from upper roots improves effectiveness of water uptake by deep roots. Oecologia 79:1–5

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Caldwell MM, Dawson TE, Richards JH (1998) Hydraulic lift: consequences of water efflux from the roots of plants. Oecologia 113:151–161

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Campbell GS (1974) A simple method for determining unsaturated conductivity from moisture retention data. Soil Sci 117:311–314

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Campbell GS (1985) Soil physics with basic—transport models for soil—plant systems. Developments in Soil Science, 14. Elsevier, Amsterdam

    Google Scholar 

  • Campbell GS, Norman JM (1998) Introduction to environmental biophysics. Springer, New York, p 305

    Book  Google Scholar 

  • Cass A, Campbell GS, Jones TL (1984) Enhancement of thermal water vapor diffusion in soil. Soil Sci Soc Am J 48:25–32

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Dawson TE (1993) Hydraulic lift and water use by plants: implications for water balance, performance and plant-plant interactions. Oecologia 95:565–574

    Google Scholar 

  • Dean TJ, Bell JP, Baty AJB (1987) Soil moisture measurement by an improved capacitance technique, part 1 sensor design and performance. J Hydrol 93:67–78

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Domec JC, Warren JM, Meinzer FC, Brooks JR, Coulombe R (2004) Native root xylem embolism and stomatal closure in stands of Douglas-fir and ponderosa pine: mitigation by hydraulic redistribution. Oecologia 141:7–16

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Espeleta JF, West JB, Donovan LA (2004) Species-specific patterns of hydraulic lift in co-occurring adult trees and grasses in a sandhill community. Oecologia 138:341–349

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Irvine J, Law BE, Anthoni PM, Meinzer FC (2002) Water limitations to carbon exchange in old-growth and young ponderosa pine stands. Tree Physiol 22:189–196

    PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Jackson RD (1973) Diurnal changes in soil water content during drying. In: Bruce RR, Flach KW, Taylor HM (eds) Field soil water regime. Soil Science Society of America, Fitchburg, pp 37–55

    Google Scholar 

  • Kuráž V (1982) Testing of a field dielectric soil moisture meter. Geotech Test J 4:111–116

    Google Scholar 

  • Law BE, Ryan MG, Anthoni PM (1999) Seasonal and annual respiration of a ponderosa pine ecosystem. Global Change Biol 5:169–182

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Law BE, Thornton PE, Irvine J, Anthoni PM, van Tuyl S (2001) Carbon storage and fluxes in ponderosa pine forests at different developmental stages. Global Change Biol 7:755–777

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Meinzer FC, Brooks JR, Bucci S, Goldstein G, Scholz FG, Warren JM (2004) Converging patterns of uptake and hydraulic redistribution of soil water in contrasting woody vegetation types. Tree Physiol 24:919–928

    PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Millikin-Ishikawa C, Bledsoe CS (2000) Seasonal and diurnal patterns of soil water potential in the rhizosphere and blue oaks: evidence for hydraulic lift. Oecologia 125:459–465

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Moldrup P, Olesen T, Schjonning P, Yamaguchi T, Rolston DE (2000) Predicting the gas diffusion coefficient in undisturbed soil from soil water characteristics. Soil Sci Soc Am J 64:94–100

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Morgan KT, Parsons LR, Wheaton TA, Pitts DJ, Obreza TA (1999) Field calibration of a capacitance water content probe in fine sand soils. Soil Sci Soc Am J 63:987–989

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Nakayama FS, Jackson RD, Kimball BA, Reginato RJ (1973) Diurnal soil-water evaporation: chloride movement and accumulation near the soil surface. Soil Sci Soc Am Proc 37:509–513

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Or D, Wraith JM (2000) Comment on “on water vapor transport in field soils” by Anthony T Cahill and Marc B Parlange. Water Resour Res 36:3103–3105

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Paltineanu IC, Starr JL (1997) Real-time soil water dynamics using multisensor capacitance probes: laboratory calibration. Soil Sci Soc Am J 61:1576–1585

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Parlange MB, Cahill AT, Nielsen DR, Hopmans JW, Wendroth O (1998) Review of heat and water movement in field soils. Soil Till Res 47:5–10

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Penman HL (1940) Gas and vapor movements in soil: the diffusion of vapors through porous solids. J Agric Sci (Cambridge) 30:437–462

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Philip JR (1957) Evaporation, and moisture and heat fields in the soil. J Meteorol 14:354–366

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Philip JR, de Vries DA (1957) Moisture movement in porous materials under temperature gradients. Trans Am Geophys Union 38:222–232

    Google Scholar 

  • Querejeta JI, Egerton-Warburton LM, Allen MF (2003) Direct nocturnal water transfer from oaks to their mycorrhizal symbionts during severe soil drying. Oecologia 134:55–64

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Richards JH, Caldwell MM (1987) Hydraulic lift: substantial nocturnal water transport between soil layers by Artemisia tridentata roots. Oecologia 73:486–489

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Rose CW (1968a) Water transport in soil with a daily temperature wave–1 Theory and experiment. Aust J Soil Res 6:31–44

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Rose CW (1968b) Water transport in soil with a daily temperature wave–2 Analysis. Aust J Soil Res 6:45–57

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Selker JS, Keller CK, McCord JT (1999) Vadose zone processes. Lewis, Boca Raton

    Google Scholar 

  • Verhoef A, Fernández-Gálvez J, Diaz-Espejo A, Main BE, El-Bishti M (2006) The diurnal course of soil moisture as measured by various dielectric sensors: effects of soil temperature and the implications for evaporation estimates. J Hydrol 321:147–162

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Warren JM, Meinzer FC, Brooks JR, Domec JC (2005) Vertical stratification of soil water storage and release dynamics in Pacific Northwest coniferous forests. Agric For Meteorol 130:39–58

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Warren JM, Meinzer FC, Brooks JR, Domec JC, Coulombe R (2007) Hydraulic redistribution of soil water in two old-growth coniferous forests: quantifying patterns and controls. New Phytol 173:753–765

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Warren JM, Brooks JR, Meinzer FC, Eberhart JL (2008) Hydraulic redistribution of water from Pinus ponderosa trees to seedlings: evidence for an ectomycorrhizal pathway. New Phytol 178:382–394

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Wraith JM, Or D (1999) Temperature effects on soil bulk dielectric permittivity measured by time domain reflectometery: experimental evidence and hypothesis development. Water Resour Res 35:361–369

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

Download references

Acknowledgments

We gratefully thank James Irvine and Bev Law for providing site data, including temperature profiles, and Rob Coulombe, J.C. Domec and David Woodruff for fieldwork. We appreciate comments from Gerald Flerchinger on an earlier version of this manuscript. This research was supported by the U.S. Department of Energy, Office of Science, Biological and Environmental Research Program, by the USDA Forest Service Ecosystem Processes Program and by the US Environmental Protection Agency. Oak Ridge National Laboratory is managed by UT-Battelle, LLC, for the U.S. Department of Energy under contract DE-AC05-00OR22725. This manuscript has been subjected to the Environmental Protection Agency’s peer and administrative review, and it has been approved for publication as an EPA document. Mention of trade names or commercial products does not constitute endorsement or recommendation for use.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Environmental Sciences Division, Oak Ridge National Laboratory, Oak Ridge, TN, 37831-6301, USA

    Jeffrey M. Warren

  2. PNW Research Station, USDA Forest Service, Corvallis, OR, 97331, USA

    Jeffrey M. Warren & Frederick C. Meinzer

  3. Western Ecology Division, US EPA/NHEERL, 200 SW 35th St, Corvallis, OR, 97333, USA

    J. Renée Brooks

  4. Department of Crop and Soil Science, Oregon State University, Corvallis, OR, 97331, USA

    Maria I. Dragila

Authors
  1. Jeffrey M. Warren
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. J. Renée Brooks
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. Maria I. Dragila
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  4. Frederick C. Meinzer
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Jeffrey M. Warren.

Additional information

This manuscript has been authored by UT-Battelle, LLC, under Contract No. DE-AC05-00OR22725 with the U.S. Department of Energy. The United States Government retains and the publisher, by accepting the article for publication, acknowledges that the United States Government retains a non-exclusive, paid-up, irrevocable, world-wide license to publish or reproduce the published form of this manuscript, or allow others to do so, for United States Government purposes.

Electronic supplementary material

Below is the link to the electronic supplementary material.

Supplementary material 1 (PDF 32 kb)

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Cite this article

Warren, J.M., Brooks, J.R., Dragila, M.I. et al. In situ separation of root hydraulic redistribution of soil water from liquid and vapor transport. Oecologia 166, 899–911 (2011). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00442-011-1953-9

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00442-011-1953-9

Keywords

Search

Navigation