Rainfall interception and redistribution by a common North American understory and pasture forb, \u3cem\u3eEupatorium capillifolium\u3c/em\u3e (Lam. dogfennel)

In vegetated landscapes, rain must pass through plant canopies and litter to enter soils. As a result, some rainwater is returned to the atmosphere (i.e., interception, I) and the remainder is partitioned into a canopy (and gap) drip flux (i.e., throughfall) or drained down the stem (i.e., stemflow). Current theoretical and numerical modeling frameworks for this process are almost exclusively based on data from woody overstory plants. However, herbaceous plants often populate the understory and are the primary cover for important ecosystems (e.g., grasslands and croplands). This study investigates how overstory throughfall (PT,o) is partitioned into understory I, throughfall (PT) and stemflow (PS) by a dominant forb in disturbed urban forests (as well as grasslands and pasturelands), Eupatorium capillifolium (Lam., dogfennel). Dogfennel density at the site was 56 770 stems ha−1, enabling water storage capacities for leaves and stems of 0.90±0.04 and 0.43±0.02 mm, respectively. As direct measurement of PT,o (using methods such as tipping buckets or bottles) would remove PT,o or disturb the understory partitioning of PT,o, overstory throughfall was modeled (PT,o′ role= presentation \u3eP′T,o) using on-site observations of PT,o from a previous field campaign. Relying on modeled PT,o′ role= presentation \u3eP′T,o, rather than on observations of PT,o directly above individual plants means that significant uncertainty remains with respect to (i) small-scale relative values of PT and PS and (ii) factors driving PS variability among individual dogfennel plants. Indeed, PS data from individual plants were highly skewed, where the mean PS:PT,o′ role= presentation \u3ePS:P′T,o per plant was 36.8 %, but the median was 7.6 % (2.8 %–27.2 % interquartile range) and the total over the study period was 7.9 %. PS variability (n=30 plants) was high (CV \u3e 200 %) and may hypothetically be explained by fine-scale spatiotemporal patterns in actual overstory throughfall (as no plant structural factors explained the variability). The total PT:PT,o′ role= presentation \u3ePT:P′T,o was 71 % (median PT:PT,o′ role= presentation \u3ePT:P′T,o per gauge was 72 %, with a 59 %–91 % interquartile range). Occult precipitation (mixed dew and light rain events) occurred during the study period, revealing that dogfennel can capture and drain dew to their stem base as PS. Dew-induced PS may help explain dogfennel\u27s improved invasion efficacy during droughts (as it tends to be one of the most problematic weeds in the improved grazing systems in the southeastern US). Overall, dogfennel\u27s precipitation partitioning differed markedly from the site\u27s overstory trees (Pinus palustris), and a discussion of the limited literature suggests that these differences may exist across vegetated ecosystems. Thus, more research on herbaceous plant canopy interactions with precipitation is merited

The effect of spatial throughfall patterns on soil moisture patterns at the hillslope scale

Improving the understanding of the controls on subsurface stormflow generation has been the goal of numerous experimental and modeling studies. However, the effect of the spatial variability of throughfall on soil moisture patterns and subsurface stormflow (SSF) generation has not yet been studied in detail. The objectives of this study are threefold: (1) to investigate the influence of a spatially variable throughfall pattern on soil moisture; (2) to investigate if soil moisture patterns reflect a balance between a throughfall and bedrock topography patterns; and (3) to investigate how this balance changes when soil depth, storm size and slope angle are varied. Virtual experiments are used to address these questions. A virtual experiment is a numerical experiment driven by collective field intelligence. It provides a learning tool to investigate the effect of individual processes in a complex system. In our virtual experiment we combined spatial throughfall data from the Huewelerbach catchment in Luxembourg with the topography of a well-studied hillslope within the Panola Mountain Research Watershed, Georgia, USA. We used HYDRUS-3D as a modeling platform. The virtual experiment shows that throughfall patterns influence soil moisture patterns, but only during and shortly after a storm. With a semi-variogram analysis we showed how the effective range of the soil moisture pattern (i.e., the main descriptor of a spatial pattern in case of a small nugget to sill ratio), is similar to the effective range of the throughfall pattern during the storm and gradually returns to the effective range of the bedrock topography after throughfall has ceased. The same analysis was carried out to investigate how this balance changes due to changes in storm size, soil depth, and slope. The analysis showed that the throughfall pattern is more important during large storms on gentle slopes. For steeper slopes the bedrock topography becomes more important.Keywords: Variability, Water dynamics, Georgia, Beech forest, Stand, Floor interception, Runoff, Subsurface stormflow, Tropical rainforest, Canop

Revisiting the contribution of transpiration to global terrestrial evapotranspiration

Even though knowing the contributions of transpiration (T), soil and open water evaporation (E), and interception (I) to terrestrial evapotranspiration (ET=T+E+I) is crucial for understanding the hydrological cycle and its connection to ecological processes, the fraction of T is unattainable by traditional measurement techniques over large scales. Previously reported global mean T/(E+T+I) from multiple independent sources, including satellite-based estimations, reanalysis, land surface models, and isotopic measurements, varies substantially from 24% to 90%. Here we develop a new ET partitioning algorithm, which combines global evapotranspiration estimates and relationships between leaf area index (LAI) and T/(E+T) for different vegetation types, to upscale a wide range of published site-scale measurements. We show that transpiration accounts for about 57.2% (with standard deviation6.8%) of global terrestrial ET. Our approach bridges the scale gap between site measurements and global model simulations,and can be simply implemented into current global climate models to improve biological CO2 flux simulations

Reviews and syntheses : Turning the challenges of partitioning ecosystem evaporation and transpiration into opportunities

Evaporation (E) and transpiration (T) respond differently to ongoing changes in climate, atmospheric composition, and land use. It is difficult to partition ecosystem-scale evapotranspiration (ET) measurements into E and T, which makes it difficult to validate satellite data and land surface models. Here, we review current progress in partitioning E and T and provide a prospectus for how to improve theory and observations going forward. Recent advancements in analytical techniques create new opportunities for partitioning E and T at the ecosystem scale, but their assumptions have yet to be fully tested. For example, many approaches to partition E and T rely on the notion that plant canopy conductance and ecosystem water use efficiency exhibit optimal responses to atmospheric vapor pressure deficit (D). We use observations from 240 eddy covariance flux towers to demonstrate that optimal ecosystem response to D is a reasonable assumption, in agreement with recent studies, but more analysis is necessary to determine the conditions for which this assumption holds. Another critical assumption for many partitioning approaches is that ET can be approximated as T during ideal transpiring conditions, which has been challenged by observational studies. We demonstrate that T can exceed 95% of ET from certain ecosystems, but other ecosystems do not appear to reach this value, which suggests that this assumption is ecosystem-dependent with implications for partitioning. It is important to further improve approaches for partitioning E and T, yet few multi-method comparisons have been undertaken to date. Advances in our understanding of carbon-water coupling at the stomatal, leaf, and canopy level open new perspectives on how to quantify T via its strong coupling with photosynthesis. Photosynthesis can be constrained at the ecosystem and global scales with emerging data sources including solar-induced fluorescence, carbonyl sulfide flux measurements, thermography, and more. Such comparisons would improve our mechanistic understanding of ecosystem water fluxes and provide the observations necessary to validate remote sensing algorithms and land surface models to understand the changing global water cycle.Peer reviewe

Correcting Thornthwaite evapotranspiration formula using a global grid of local coefficients to support temperature-based estimations of reference evapotranspiration and aridity indices

Thornthwaite's formula is globally an optimum candidate for large scale applications of potential evapotranspiration and aridity assessment at different climates and landscapes since it has the lower data requirements compared to other methods and especially from the ASCE-standardized reference evapotranspiration (former FAO-56), which is the most data demanding method and is commonly used as benchmark method. The aim of the study is to develop a global database of local coefficients for correcting the formula of monthly Thornthwaite potential evapotranspiration (Ep) using as benchmark the ASCE-standardized reference evapotranspiration method (Er). The validity of the database will be verified by testing the hypothesis that a local correction coefficient, which integrates the local mean effect of wind speed, humidity and solar radiation, can improve the performance of the original Thornthwaite formula. The database of local correction coefficients was developed using global gridded temperature and Er data of the period 1950-2000 at 30 arc-sec resolution (~1 km at equator) from freely available climate geodatabases. The correction coefficients were produced as partial weighted averages of monthly Er/Ep ratios by setting the ratios' weight according to the monthly Er magnitude and by excluding colder months with monthly values of Er or Ep <45 mm month-1 because their ratio becomes highly unstable for low temperatures. The validation of the correction coefficients was made using raw data from 525 stations of Europe, California-USA and Australia including data up to 2020. The validation procedure showed that the corrected Thornthwaite formula Eps using local coefficients led to a reduction of RMSE from 37.2 to 30.0 mm m-1 for monthly and from 388.8 to 174.8 mm y-1 for annual step estimations compared to Ep using as benchmark the values of Er method. The corrected Eps and the original Ep Thornthwaite formulas were also evaluated by their use in Thornthwaite and UNEP (United Nations Environment Program) aridity indices using as benchmark the respective indices estimated by Er. The analysis was made using the validation data of the stations and the results showed that the correction of Thornthwaite formula using local coefficients increased the accuracy of detecting identical aridity classes with Er from 63% to 76% for the case of Thornthwaite classification, and from 76% to 93% for the case of UNEP classification. The performance of both aridity indices using the corrected formula was extremely improved in the case of non-humid classes. The global database of local correction factors can support applications of reference evapotranspiration and aridity indices assessment with the minimum data requirements (i.e. temperature) for locations where climatic data are limited

What do plants leave after summer on the ground?-The effect of afforested plants in arid environments

The implementation of afforestation programs in arid environments in northern China had modified the natural vegetation patterns. This increases the evaporation flux; however, the influence of these new covers on the soil water conditions is poorly understood. This work aims to describe the effect of Willow bushes (Salix psammophila C. Wang and Chang Y. Yang) and Willow trees (Salix matsudana Koidz.) on the soil water conditions after the summer. Two experimental plots located in the Hailiutu catchment (Shaanxi province, northwest China), and covered with plants of each species, were monitored during Autumn in 2010. The monitoring included the soil moisture, fine root distribution and transpiration fluxes that provided information about water availability, access and use by the plants. Meanwhile, the monitoring of stable water isotopes collected from precipitation, soil water, groundwater and xylem water linked the water paths. The presence of Willow trees and Willow bushes reduce the effect of soil evaporation after summer, increasing the soil moisture respect to bare soil conditions. Also, the presence of soil water with stable water isotope signatures close to groundwater reflect the hydraulic lift process. This is an indication of soil water redistribution carried out by both plant species

Isotope depth profiles of grass and bare soil, Botanical Garden, Delft, The Netherlands

Stable water isotopes (2H and 18O) measurements at different depths in the soil for grass and bare soil. From 9/11/2010 until 25/06/2011 soil water was sampled at 5 depths below the surface (-6,6 cm; 13,2 cm; 19,8cm; 26,4cm; 33cm) in a lysimeter (see Sutanto et al, 2012) . There were 2 setups: 1 bare soil and 1 grass. 1 ml of water was extracted with a 30 ml syringe from the soil with Rhizon samplers. The water samplers were analysed on 2H/H and18O/16O with the LGR-isotope analyser (LWIA-24d). Location: Botanical Garden, Delft, The Netherlands. This dataset is interesting for evaporation partitioning studies. More details and explanation about the data can be found on the README tab (first worksheet) of the excel fil