Needle water potential and soil-to-foliage flow resistance during soil drying: a comparison of Douglas-fir, western hemlock, and mountain hemlock

Abstract

Needle water potential in western and mountain hemlock falls as the soil dries, but under our experimental conditions, it remained stable in Douglas-fir. Resistance to water flow from soil to foliage is higher for the hemlocks and increases more steeply as the soil dries. These findings physically account for the observation that water uptake is reduced relatively more for the hemlocks than for Douglas-fir, as soil water potential declines.