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Plant Biology

University of Nevada, Las Vegas

Plant water use

Publication Year

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Full-Text Articles in Life Sciences

Bowen Ratio Estimates Of Evapotranspiration For Stands On The Virgin River In Southern Nevada, Dale A. Devitt, A. Sala, S. D. Smith, J. Cleverly, L. K. Shaulis, R. Hammett Jan 1998

Bowen Ratio Estimates Of Evapotranspiration For Stands On The Virgin River In Southern Nevada, Dale A. Devitt, A. Sala, S. D. Smith, J. Cleverly, L. K. Shaulis, R. Hammett

Life Sciences Faculty Research

A Bowen ratio energy balance was conducted over a Tamarix ramosissima (saltcedar) stand growing in a riparian corridor along the Virgin River in southern Nevada. Measurements in two separate years were compared and contrasted on the basis of changes in growing conditions. In 1994, a drought year, record high temperatures, dry winds, and a falling water table caused partial wilt of outer smaller twigs in the canopy of many trees in the stand around the Bowen tower. Subsequently, evapotranspiration (ET) estimates declined dramatically over a 60‐day period (11 mm d−1 tod−1). In 1995, the Virgin River at the Bowen tower …


Evapotranspiration From A Saltcedar-Dominated Desert Floodplain: A Scaling Approach, S. D. Smith, A. M. Sala, Dale A. Devitt Jan 1996

Evapotranspiration From A Saltcedar-Dominated Desert Floodplain: A Scaling Approach, S. D. Smith, A. M. Sala, Dale A. Devitt

Life Sciences Faculty Research

The purpose of this study was to investigate evapotranspiration (ET) from a variety of scales (leaf to landscape) in saltcedar-dominated floodplain vegetation along the lower Virgin River of southern Nevada. Leaf-level gas exchange indicated that saltcedar exhibits similar stomatal conductance as the sympatric phreatophytes arrowweed, mesquite, and willow. However, sap flow in saltcedar was higher per unit sapwood area than the other species, suggesting that it maintains higher leaf area per unit sapwood area. At the stand level, saltcedar ET was found to exceed potential ET early in the summer when soils were moist and the water table was near …