Impacts of Artificial Soil Drought on Aboveground Biomass of Some Bangkok Street Tree Species: Comparisons Between Irrigated and Non-irrigated Potted Trees

Pantana Tor-ngern

Authors

Pantana Tor-ngern Department of Environmental Science, Faculty of Science, Chulalongkorn University, Bangkok 10330 Thailand

Keywords:

urban trees, soil drought, aboveground biomass, urban greening

Abstract

Numerous research revealed that urban trees can play an important role in mitigation of rising atmospheric carbon dioxide in cities. To achieve sustainable urban greening management, selective tree planting is recommended, especially in an environment with projected intensified drought events. This study presents the assessment of changes in aboveground dry mass of potted trees of Pterocarpus indicus (Pi), Swietenia macrophylla (Sm) and Lagerstroemia speciosa (Ls), species commonly found in Bangkok, Thailand, under artificial soil drought during a one-week treatment. For each species, ten potted trees were used in the experiment: five trees were irrigated every day throughout the one-week period whereas the other five trees were withheld from water. Comparisons between the two tree groups in each species showed that soil drought induced leaf loss, resulting in significant reductions in transpirational surface (i.e., leaf area) and photosynthetic machinery (i.e., leaf mass) in all species, with the greatest decrease in Ls. The insignificant changes of woody dry mass under soil drought in these species indicated carbon allocation from leaf to root, with the greatest degree in Ls. Consequently, it may be implied that, for the same treatment period, Ls is the most sensitive to soil drought, exhibiting the greatest reduction in leaf area and leaf dry mass, and possibly increase in water absorbance capacity through enhanced root surface. Based on these findings, Pi and Sm may be recommended for planting in urban areas due to their slower responses and therefore higher tolerance to soil water deficit.

References

Akbari, H. (2002). Shade trees reduce building energy use and CO2 emissions from power plants. Environmental Pollution, 116, S119–S216.

Deloya, M. C. (1993). Urban forestry activities in Mexico. Unasylva, 173(44), 28–32.

Dias, P. C., Araujo, W. L., Moraes, G. A. B. K., Barros, R. S., & DaMatta, F. M. (2007). Morphological and physiological responses of two coffee progenies to soil water availability. Journal of Plant Physiology, 164, 1639–1647.

Dierick, D., & Hölscher, D. (2009). Species-specific tree water use characteristics in reforestation stands in the Philippines. Agricultural and Forest Meteorology, 149, 1317–1326.

Ewers, B. E., Oren, R., Phillips, N., Strömgren, M., & Linder, S. (2001). Mean canopy stomatal conductance responses to water and nutrient availabilities in Picea abies and Pinus taeda. Tree Physiology, 21, 841–850.

Granier, A. (1985). Une nouvelle méthode pour la mesure du flux de séve brute dans le tronc des arbres. Annals of Forest Science, 42, 193–200.

Kjelgren, R., Puangchit, L., Sriladda, C., & Someechai, M. (2008). Water use of four street tree species in Bangkok, Thailand. Acta Horticulture, 792, 405–409.

Kume, T., Takizawa, H., Yoshifuji, N., Tanaka, K., Tantasirin, C., Tanaka, N., & Suzuki, M. (2007). Impact of soil drought on sap flow and water status of evergreen trees in a tropical monsoon forest in northern Thailand. Forest Ecology and Management, 238, 220–230.

Kunjet, S., Thaler, P., Gay, F., Chuntuma, P., Sangkhasila, K., & Kasemsap, P. (2013). Effects of drought and tapping for latex production on water relations of Hevea brasiliensis trees. Kasetsart Journal (Natural Science), 47, 506–515.

Marcelis, L. F. M., Heuvelink, E., & Goudriaan, J. (1998). Modelling biomass production and yield of

horticultural crops: a review. Scientia Horticulturae, 74, 83–111.

Monteith, J. L., & Unsworth, M. H. (1990). Principles of Environmental Physics. Retrieved from http://denning.atmos.colostate.edu/readings/Monteith.and.Unsworth.4thEd.pdf

Moroco, J. P., Pereira, J. S., & Chaves, M. M. (2000). Growth, photosynthesis and water-use efficiency of two C4 Sahelian grasses subjected to water deficits. Journal of Arid Environments, 45, 119–137.

Oren, R. & Pataki, D. E. (2001). Transpiration in response to variation in microclimate and soil moisture in southeastern deciduous forests. Oecologia, 127, 549–559.

Pataki, D. E., Oren, R., & Phillips, N. (1998). Responses of sap flux and stomatal conductance of Pinus taeda L. trees to stepwise reductions in leaf area. Journal of Experimental Botany, 49,

–878.

Pataki, D. E., Alig, R. J., Fung, A. S., Golubiewski, N. E., Kennedy, C. A., McPherson, E. G., … Lankao, P. R. (2006). Urban ecosystems and the North American carbon cycle. Global Change Biology, 12, 2092–2101.

Petit, J. R., Jouzel, J., Raynaud, D., Barkov, N. I., Barnola, J-M., Basile, I., … Stievenard, M. (1999). Climate and atmospheric history of the past 420,000 years from the Vostok ice core, Antarctica. Nature, 399, 429–436.

Puangchit, L., Sriladda, C., Kjelgren, R., & Someechai, M. (2014). Water relations of three tree species growing in the streetside forest of Bangkok, Thailand during the monsoonal dry season. Retrieved from http://digitalcommons.usu.edu/

Schneider, C. A., Rasband, W. S., & Eliceiri, K. W. (2012). NIH Image to ImageJ: 25 years of image analysis. Nature Methods, 9, 671–675.

Tor-ngern, P. & Panha, S. (2016). Species-specific responses of water use by urban trees to artificial soil drought: results from a small-scaled study. Applied Environmental Research, 38(1), 53–60.

Tschaplinski, T. J., Tuskan, G. A., & Gunderson, C. A. (1994). Water-stress tolerance of black and eastern cottonwood clones and four hybrid progeny. I. Growth, water relations and gas exchange. Canadian Journal of Forest Research, 24, 364–371.