Bionic Leaf Simulating the Thermal Effect of Natural Leaf Transpiration

We proposed a kind of bionic leaf to simulate the thermal effect of leaf transpiration. The bionic leaf was firstly designed to be composed of a green coating, a water holding layer, a Composite Adsorbent （CS） layer and an adsorption-desorption rate controlling layer. A thermophysical model was established for the bionic leaf, and the dynamic simulation results reveal that the water holding layer is not necessary; a CS of high thermal conductivity should be selected as the CS layer; the adsorp- tion-desorption rate controlling layer could be removed due to the low adsorption-desorption rate of the CS; and when CaC12 mass fraction of the CS reaches 40%; the bionic leaf could simulate the dynamic thermal behavior of the natural leaf. Based on the simulation results, we prepared bionic leaves with different CaC12 content. The thermographies of the bionic leaf and the natural leaf were shot using the Infrared Thermal Imager. The measured average radiative temperature difference between the bionic and natural leaves is less than 1.0 ℃.     

桃树冠层蒸腾动态的数学模拟

将气孔导度公式、Penman—Monteith公式和土壤水分限制模型相结合,可以模拟出不同环境因子对植物蒸腾进程的影响。通过对盆栽桃树（Prunus persica var．nectadna Maxim．）数值模拟发现：影响桃树蒸腾速率的主要气象因子是太阳辐射、大气温度和湿度。植物通过气孔导度的改变来响应气象因子的变化,蒸腾的日变化主要是由气象因子的日变化引起的。土壤的水分状况也对气孔导度有显著的影响,进而影响植物的蒸腾大小。通过数值模拟还发现植物的蒸腾量并不总是随叶面积的增大而增大,对于桃树而言叶面积指数为4左右时日蒸腾量达到最大值。通过对气孔导度和蒸腾速率的模拟值和实测值进行检验发现,两者基本吻合,说明利用数学模拟的方法可以求出不同环境条件和不同叶面积桃树冠层的蒸腾速率。     

Effects of tussock size and soil water content on whole plant gas exchange in Stipa tenacissima L.: Extrapolating from the leaf versus modelling crown architecture

In this study we evaluated daily whole plant transpiration and net photosynthetic rates in Stipa tenacissima L. (Poaceae) tussocks of different sizes subjected to three levels of soil moisture. The crown architecture of 12 tussocks was reconstructed with the 3D computer model Yplant taking into account the morphology and physiology of the leaves determined at different soil moisture levels. We also calculated whole plant transpiration by extrapolating leaf transpiration in different senescence conditions measured with a diffusion porometer. This extrapolated transpiration overestimated transpiration, particularly when the soil moisture level was high (>15% of volumetric soil water content). At this high level of soil moisture, large tussocks (>60 cm in diameter), which were sexually mature and had a large leaf surface area, were the most efficient with regard to daily water use efficiency (whole plant net photosynthesis/whole plant transpiration). Whole plant water use efficiency decreased with tussock size primarily because small tussocks exhibited high transpiration rates. Small tussocks were more sensitive to soil drying than large and intermediate ones, presenting a faster rate of leaf senescence as water deficit increased. Leaf acclimation to irradiance, which was significantly influenced by the degree of mutual shading among neighbouring leaves, along with the ontogeny of the tussock and its effect upon leaf senescence were found to be the main mechanisms involved in the different responses to water limitations found in whole plant gas exchange variables. Our results show that the size of each individual plant must be taken into account in processes of scaling-up of carbon gain and transpiration from leaf to stand, as this is a particularly relevant aspect in estimating water use by semiarid vegetation.     

Wind increases leaf water use efficiency

A widespread perception is that, with increasing wind speed, transpiration from plant leaves increases. However, evidence suggests that increasing wind speed enhances carbon dioxide (CO₂) uptake while reducing transpiration because of more efficient convective cooling (under high solar radiation loads). We provide theoretical and experimental evidence that leaf water use efficiency (WUE, carbon uptake per water transpired) commonly increases with increasing wind speed, thus improving plants' ability to conserve water during photosynthesis. Our leaf‐scale analysis suggests that the observed global decrease in near‐surface wind speeds could have reduced WUE at a magnitude similar to the increase in WUE attributed to global rise in atmospheric CO₂ concentrations. However, there is indication that the effect of long‐term trends in wind speed on leaf gas exchange may be compensated for by the concurrent reduction in mean leaf sizes. These unintuitive feedbacks between wind, leaf size and water use efficiency call for re‐evaluation of the role of wind in plant water relations and potential re‐interpretation of temporal and geographic trends in leaf sizes.     

An interpretation of some whole plant water transport phenomena

A treatment of water flow into and through plants to the evaporating surface of the leaves is presented. The model is driven by evaporation from the cell wall matrix of the leaves. The adsorptive and pressure components of the cell wall matric potential are analyzed and the continuity between the pressure component and the liquid tension in the xylem established. Continuity of these potential components allows linking of a root transport function, driven by the tension in the xylem, to the leaf water potential. The root component of the overall model allows for the solvent-solute interactions characteristic of a membrane-bound system and discussion of the interactions of environmental variables such as root temperature and soil water potentials. A partition function is developed from data in the literature which describes how water absorbed by the plant might be divided between transpiration and leaf growth over a range of leaf water potentials.

Relationships between the overall system conductance and the conductance coefficients of the various plant parts (roots, xylem, leaf matrix) are established and the influence of each of these discussed.

The whole plant flow model coupled to the partition function is used to simulate several possible relationships between leaf water potential and transpiration rate. The effects of changing some of the partition function coefficients, as well as the root medium water potential on these simulations is illustrated.

In addition to the general usefulness of the model and its ability to describe a wide range of situations, we conclude that the relationships used, dealing with bulk fluid flow, diffusion, and solute transport, are adequate to describe the system and that analogically based theoretical systems, such as the Ohm's law analogy, probably ought to be abandoned for this purpose.

     

A coupled model of stomatal conductance, photosynthesis and transpiration

A model that couples stomatal conductance, photosynthesis, leaf energy balance and transport of water through the soil–plant–atmosphere continuum is presented. Stomatal conductance in the model depends on light, temperature and intercellular CO₂ concentration via photosynthesis and on leaf water potential, which in turn is a function of soil water potential, the rate of water flow through the soil and plant, and on xylem hydraulic resistance. Water transport from soil to roots is simulated through solution of Richards’ equation. The model captures the observed hysteresis in diurnal variations in stomatal conductance, assimilation rate and transpiration for plant canopies. Hysteresis arises because atmospheric demand for water from the leaves typically peaks in mid‐afternoon and because of uneven distribution of soil matric potentials with distance from the roots. Potentials at the root surfaces are lower than in the bulk soil, and once soil water supply starts to limit transpiration, root potentials are substantially less negative in the morning than in the afternoon. This leads to higher stomatal conductances, CO₂ assimilation and transpiration in the morning compared to later in the day. Stomatal conductance is sensitive to soil and plant hydraulic properties and to root length density only after approximately 10 d of soil drying, when supply of water by the soil to the roots becomes limiting. High atmospheric demand causes transpiration rates, LE, to decline at a slightly higher soil water content, θ_s, than at low atmospheric demand, but all curves of LE versus θ_s fall on the same line when soil water supply limits transpiration. Stomatal conductance cannot be modelled in isolation, but must be fully coupled with models of photosynthesis/respiration and the transport of water from soil, through roots, stems and leaves to the atmosphere.     

Effect of Changes of Temperature Around Roots in Relation to Water Uptake by Roots and Leaf Transpiration

Effects of changes in temperature around roots on water uptake by roots and leaf transpiration were studied in Leucaena leucocephala (Lam.) de Wit., a subtropical woody plant species, and in Zea mays L. When the temperature around roots was rapidly lowered from 25 ℃ to 15 ℃, the water uptake by the roots and leaf transpiration were stimulated significantly within a short period ( 14 min). However, this effect did not occur when the cooling time was prolonged neither did if occur when the temperature around the roots was resumed from 15 ℃ to 25 ℃. Both the hydraulic conductivity of roots and leaf transpiration were increased substantially at first (within 20 min)and then decreased steadily to a level lower than those of the control in which the roots were continuous exposed to a low temperature ( 15 ℃ ). Low temperature also promoted the biosynthesis of ABA in roots and enhanced the xylem ABA concentration, but such stimulation did not occur untill about 30 min after cooling treatment, leaf transpiration was reduced markedly, but the hydraulic conductivity of roots increased when the root system was treated with exogenous ABA. It was suggested that some mechanisms other than ABA may be involved in the short-time cryostimulation of water uptake by roots and leaf transpiration.     

Assessing transpiration in the tussock grass Stipa tenacissima L.: the crucial role of the interplay between morphology and physiology

Plant transpiration has a key role on both plant performance and ecosystem functioning in arid zones, but realistic estimates at appropriate spatial-temporal scales are scarce. Leaf and tiller morphology and crown architecture were studied together with leaf physiology and whole plant water balance in four individual plants of Stipa tenacissima of different sizes to determine the relative influence of processes taking place at different spatial and temporal scales on whole plant transpiration. Transpiration was estimated in potted plants by leaf-level gas exchange techniques (infrared gas analyzer and porometer), by sap flow measurements, and by integrating leaf physiology and crown architecture with the 3-D computer model Yplant. Daily transpiration of each individual plant was monitored using a gravimetric method, which rendered the reference values. Leaves on each individual plant significantly varied in their physiological status. Young and green parts of the leaves showed five times higher chlorophyll concentration and greater photosynthetic capacity than the senescent parts of the foliage. Instantaneous leaf-level transpiration measurements should not be used to estimate plant transpiration, owing to the fact that extrapolations overestimated individual transpiration by more than 100%. Considering leaf age effects and scaling the estimates according to the relative amount of each foliage category reduced this difference to 46% though it was still significantly higher than gravimetric measurements. Sap flow calculations also overestimated tussock transpiration. However, 3-D reconstruction of plants with Yplant and transpiration estimates, considering both the physiological status and the daily pattern of radiation experienced by each individual leaf section within the crown, matched the gravimetric measurements (differences were only 4.4%). The complex interplay of leaf physiology and crown structure must be taken into account in scaling up plant transpiration from instantaneous, leaf-level measurements, and our study indicates that transpiration of complex crowns is easily overestimated.     

黑河地区绿洲生态条件下麦田生物气象若干特征

观测分析了ＨＥＩＦＥ地区绿洲中麦田的微气候特征,结果表明ＳＰＡＣ中水５势随高度呈显著梯度分布,在土壤－植物以及植物－大气界面,水势值存在两个大的跳跃;水势廓线存在明显的日变化;ＳＰＡＣ各部分水势变化的起伏顺序是大气〉植物〉土壤,说明水势变化受植物水分代谢进程直到气象因子的强烈影响和控制。冠层上方近地面风温湿的时间剖而显示出白天与夜晚相比,大气混合得较好。日出前则大气较为稳定。在典型晴天条件下,麦田     

基于冠层温湿度模型的日光温室黄瓜霜霉病预警方法

利用温室环境参数构建室内微环境模拟模型,并结合温室病害模型进行预警,便于开展病害生态防治,以减少农药使用,从而保护温室生态环境和保证农产品质量安全.本文利用温室内能量守恒原理和水分平衡原理,构建了日光温室冠层叶片温度和空气相对湿度模拟模型.叶片温度模拟模型考虑了温室内植物与墙体、土壤、覆盖物之间的辐射热交换,以及室内净辐射、叶片蒸腾作用引起的能量变化;相对湿度模拟模型综合了温室内叶片蒸腾、土壤蒸发、覆盖物与叶面的水汽凝结引起的水分变化.将温湿度估计模型输出值作为参数,输入黄瓜霜霉病初侵染和潜育期预警模型中,估计黄瓜霜霉病发病日期,并与田间观测的实际发病日期比较.试验选取2014年9月和10月的温湿度监测数据进行模型验证,冠层叶片温度实际值与模拟值的均方根偏差（RMSD)分别为0.016和0.024 ℃,空气相对湿度实际值与模拟值的RMSD分别为0.15%和0.13%.结合温湿度估计模型结果表明,黄瓜病害预警系统预测黄瓜霜霉病发病日期与田间调查发病日期相吻合.本研究可为黄瓜日光温室病害预警模型及系统构建提供微环境数据支持.     

Assessing transpiration in the tussock grass Stipa tenacissima L.: the crucial role of the interplay between morphology and physiology

Plant transpiration has a key role on both plant performance and ecosystem functioning in arid zones, but realistic estimates at appropriate spatial-temporal scales are scarce. Leaf and tiller morphology and crown architecture were studied together with leaf physiology and whole plant water balance in four individual plants of Stipa tenacissima of different sizes to determine the relative influence of processes taking place at different spatial and temporal scales on whole plant transpiration. Transpiration was estimated in potted plants by leaf-level gas exchange techniques (infrared gas analyzer and porometer), by sap flow measurements, and by integrating leaf physiology and crown architecture with the 3-D computer model Yplant. Daily transpiration of each individual plant was monitored using a gravimetric method, which rendered the reference values. Leaves on each individual plant significantly varied in their physiological status. Young and green parts of the leaves showed five times higher chlorophyll concentration and greater photosynthetic capacity than the senescent parts of the foliage. Instantaneous leaf-level transpiration measurements should not be used to estimate plant transpiration, owing to the fact that extrapolations overestimated individual transpiration by more than 100%. Considering leaf age effects and scaling the estimates according to the relative amount of each foliage category reduced this difference to 46% though it was still significantly higher than gravimetric measurements. Sap flow calculations also overestimated tussock transpiration. However, 3-D reconstruction of plants with Yplant and transpiration estimates, considering both the physiological status and the daily pattern of radiation experienced by each individual leaf section within the crown, matched the gravimetric measurements (differences were only 4.4%). The complex interplay of leaf physiology and crown structure must be taken into account in scaling up plant transpiration from instantaneous, leaf-level measurements, and our study indicates that transpiration of complex crowns is easily overestimated.     

Physiological Indicators of Plant Water Status of Irrigated and Non-irrigated Grapevines Grown in a Low Rainfall Area of Portugal

Water is a key resource in commercial wine production and both large excesses and deficits have undesirable effects upon the amount and quality of the wine produced. A balance between the water requirements of a fully developed canopy and the induced stress necessary for the commercial quality of the wine must be reached. Thus we need a physiological indicator that integrates both soil and climatic conditions to use as a management tool. An experimental field was established in the eastern part of the Demarcated Region of Douro – Portugal, to study the effect of water supply on the quality of the musts produced and we need a physiological indicator that relates to the water use and stress of the grapevines (Vitis vinifera L.) and to the later evaluation of the effect of irrigation practices upon the quality of the musts. We chose as indicators sap flow, leaf water potential at pre-dawn (0600 h), mid-morning (1000 h), solar noon (1400 h) and sunset (1900 h), stomatal conductance and leaf transpiration both measured at mid-morning and at solar noon, and related them to our experimental treatments that induce differences in soil water content, evaluated with time-domain reflectometry probes, with the objective of selecting the indicator that best describes the plant water status under different amounts of available water. Sap flow, leaf water potential and leaf transpiration rate measured at solar noon had highly significant correlations with soil water content and their regression on soil water content was also highly significant. Each of these parameters has shortcomings and none has a clear advantage over the other two as an integrator of the environmental conditions under these experimental conditions. Further studies of the parameters and their relationship with the quality characteristics of the produced musts are needed to achieve the ultimate objective of manipulating the soil water content.     

田间小麦叶片气孔对环境因子响应的模拟及叶片水分平衡的计算

经实测与数据分析得出田间供试小麦叶片气孔对光强、叶温、叶片水势分别作一定形式的响应,据此估算了冠层总气孔导度,进而建立了预测小麦群体蒸腾速率、冠层总气孔导度、叶温、叶片水势等的水分平衡模型。实验表明模型具有较好的预测性。供试小麦叶片一天中可溶性糖含量变化对叶片水势的影响不大。     

光合作用-蒸腾作用-气孔导度的耦合模型及C_3植物叶片对环境因子的生理响应(英文)

以叶片的气体传输过程为基础,将蒸腾作用包括在以往光合作用气孔导度的耦合模型中,建立了光合作用蒸腾作用气孔导度的耦合模型。该模型可以模拟边界层导度对生理过程的影响。模拟了Ｃ３植物叶片对环境因子,如光照、温度、湿度、边界层导度和ＣＯ２浓度等的生理响应（光合作用、蒸腾作用、气孔导度）以及Ｃｉ和水分利用效率的变化。在环境因子变化于较大范围的情况下,模拟结果符合许多实验结论。     

干旱区植物叶片大小对叶表面蒸腾及叶温的影响

利用热及物质交换原理, 并结合前人研究成果, 在单叶尺度上建立了简单的叶温和水气蒸腾模型。模型通过预设值驱动, 预设值参照干旱区环境及植物叶片特征设置。模拟结果显示: 随气孔阻力的增加, 叶片蒸腾速率降低, 叶温升高; 同一环境下, 具有低辐射吸收率的叶片蒸腾速率和叶温更低, 并且气孔阻力越大, 这种差异越明显。另外, 叶片宽度及风速是影响叶片蒸腾及叶温的重要因子。干旱地区植物生长季节, 风速小于0.1 m·s ^-1、气孔阻力接近1000 s·m ^-1时, 降低叶片宽度不仅有利于降低叶片温度, 而且能够降低叶片蒸腾速率, 从而实现保持水分, 增强植物适应高温、干旱的能力。     

Simulation of the Physiological Responses of C3 Plant Leaves to Environmental Factors by a Model Which Combines Stomatal Conductance,Photosynthesis and Transpiration

Transpiration element is included in the integrated stomatal conductance-photosynthesis model by considering gaseous transfer processes, so the present model is capable to simulate the influence of boundary layer conductance. Leuning in his revised Ball' s model replaced relative humidity with VPDs(the vapor pressure deficit from stomatal pore to leaf surface) and thereby made the relation with transpiration more straightforward, and made it possible for the regulation of transpiration and the influence of boundary layer conductance to be integrated into the combined model. If the differences in water vapor and CO2 concentration between leaf and ambient air are considered, VPDs, the evaporative demand, is influenced by stomatal and boundary layer conductance. The physiological responses of photosynthesis, transpiration, and stomatal function, and the changes of intercellular CO2 and water use efficiency to environmental factors, such as wind speed, photon flux density, leaf temperature and ambient CO2, are analyzed. It is shown that ff the boundary layer conductance drops to a level comparable with stomatal conductance, the results of simulation by the model presented here differ significantly from those by the previous model, and, in some cases, are more realistic than the latter.     

Quantitative neutron imaging of water distribution,venation network and sap flow in leaves

Main conclusion

Quantitative neutron imaging is a promising technique to investigate leaf water flow and transpiration in real time and has perspectives towards studies of plant response to environmental conditions and plant water stress. The leaf hydraulic architecture is a key determinant of plant sap transport and plant–atmosphere exchange processes. Non-destructive imaging with neutrons shows large potential for unveiling the complex internal features of the venation network and the transport therein. However, it was only used for two-dimensional imaging without addressing flow dynamics and was still unsuccessful in accurate quantification of the amount of water. Quantitative neutron imaging was used to investigate, for the first time, the water distribution in veins and lamina, the three-dimensional venation architecture and sap flow dynamics in leaves. The latter was visualised using D₂O as a contrast liquid. A high dynamic resolution was obtained by using cold neutrons and imaging relied on radiography (2D) as well as tomography (3D). The principle of the technique was shown for detached leaves, but can be applied to in vivo leaves as well. The venation network architecture and the water distribution in the veins and lamina unveiled clear differences between plant species. The leaf water content could be successfully quantified, though still included the contribution of the leaf dry matter. The flow measurements exposed the hierarchical structure of the water transport pathways, and an accurate quantification of the absolute amount of water uptake in the leaf was possible. Particular advantages of neutron imaging, as compared to X-ray imaging, were identified. Quantitative neutron imaging is a promising technique to investigate leaf water flow and transpiration in real time and has perspectives towards studies of plant response to environmental conditions and plant water stress.     

Rock-eating mycorrhizas: their role in plant nutrition and biogeochemical cycles

Rates of water uptake by individual trees in a native Australian forest were measured on the Liverpool Plains, New South Wales, Australia, using sapflow sensors. These rates were up-scaled to stand transpiration rate (expressed per unit ground area) using sapwood area as the scalar, and these estimates were compared with modelled stand transpiration. A modified Jarvis-Stewart modelling approach (Jarvis 1976), previously used to calculate canopy conductance, was used to calculate stand transpiration rate. Three environmental variables, namely solar radiation, vapour pressure deficit and soil moisture content, plus leaf area index, were used to calculate stand transpiration, using measured rates of tree water use to parameterise the model. Functional forms for the model were derived by use of a weighted non-linear least squares fitting procedure. The model was able to give comparable estimates of stand transpiration to those derived from a second set of sapflow measurements. It is suggested that short-term, intensive field campaigns where sapflow, weather and soil water content variables are measured could be used to estimate annual patterns of stand transpiration using daily variation in these three environmental variables. Such a methodology will find application in the forestry, mining and water resource management industries where long-term intensive data sets are frequently unavailable.     

Oscillations in stomatal conductance and plant functioning associated with stomatal conductance: Observations and a model

Summary Measurements of transpiration, leaf water content, and flux of water in a cotton plant exhibiting sustained oscillations, in stomatal conductance are presented, and a model of the mechanism causing this behaviour is developed. The dynamic elements, of the model are capacitors—representing the change of water content with water potential in mesophyll, subsidiary and guard cells—interconnected by resistances representing flow paths in the plant. Increase of water potential in guard cells causes an increase in stomatal conductance. Increase of water potential in the subsidiary cells has the opposite effect and provides the positive feed-back which can cause stomatal conductance to oscillate. The oscillations are shown to have many of the characteristics of free-running oscillations in real plants. The behaviour of the model has been examined, using an analogue computer, with constraints and perturbations representing some of those which could be applied to real plants in physiological experiments. Aspects of behaviour which have been simulated are (a) opening and closing of stomata under the influence of changes in illumination, (b) transient responses due to step changes in potential transpiration, root permeability and potential of water surrounding the roots, (c) the influence of these factors on the occurrence and shape of spontaneous oscillations, and (d) modulation of sustained oscillations due to a circadian rhythm in the permeability of roots.