A multi-year study of rainfall and soil water controls on Scots pine transpiration under Mediterranean mountain conditions

This study is focused on the analysis of the relationship between sap-flow-derived transpiration measured in a Scots pine stand in the Vallcebre research catchments (NE Iberian Peninsula) and meteorological and rainfall data. The first part of the study is focused on the analysis of temperature and rainfall anomalies. Then, the Scots pine transpiration response to inter-annual rainfall variability, soil water stress and water table depth variations during the period 1997-2000 is analysed. This period includes the extremely dry year of 1998, which allows us to infer the response of Scots pine transpiration to severe droughts. Scots pine transpiration during the summer presented a high inter-annual variability, largely related to rainfall amounts. Daily transpiration during dry summers was 40% of the transpiration of a summer day with average rainfall. Moreover, during dry summers, transpiration rates were not fully recovered even after significant rainfall events. The analysis of the dependence of Scots pine transpiration on available water indicated the strong limitation on transpiration induced by water content in the whole soil profile as well as by water table position. Under these drought conditions, a reduction of runoff and deep water stores was observed at the catchment scale, suggesting that the predicted increase in the frequency of severe summer droughts may threaten the current role of Mediterranean mountain catchments as suppliers of water resources for lowland areas. © 2010 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

This study was supported by the PROBASE (CGL2006-11619/HID) and MONTES (CSD2008-00040) projects funded by the Spanish Government. JL was beneficiary of a ‘Ramon y Cajal’ contract and JD of a pre-doctoral fellowship, both funded by the Spanish Ministry of Science and Innovation. We acknowledge the help of O. Avila, M. Abril, R. Poch and C. Salvany in field data acquisition and treatment.

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