Water relations in tree physiology: where to from here?

We look back over 50 years of research into the water relations of trees, with the objective of assessing the maturity of the topic in terms of the idea of a paradigm, put forward by Kuhn in 1962. Our brief review indicates that the physical processes underlying the calculation of transpiration are well understood and accepted, and knowledge of those processes can be applied if information about the leaf area of trees, and stomatal conductance, is available. Considerable progress has been made in understanding the factors governing stomatal responses to environment, with insights into how the hydraulic conducting system of trees determines the maximum aperture of stomata.

Does night-time transpiration contribute to anisohydric behaviour in a Vitis vinifera cultivar?

The hypothesis that vines of the Semillon wine grape variety show anisohydric behaviour was tested, i.e. that tissue hydration is unstable under fluctuating environmental conditions.

Analysis of biomass accumulation and stem size distributions over long periods in managed stands of Pinus sylvestris in Finland using the 3-PG model.

We tested the performance of a process-based model (PBM) in relation to long-term mensuration data from two sites in Finland where the stands were up to 90 years old and had been thinned at approximately 5-year intervals over the last 50 years. The PBM used was based on the 3-PG (Physiological Principles to Predict Growth) model developed by Landsberg and Waring (1997), with modifications in the biomass allocation routine, for which we used data and calculations by Vanninen (2003) to estimate the allocation coefficients and turnover rates. Site fertility was estimated in terms of known site-type characteristics.

Corrigendum to: Conversion of canopy intercepted radiation to photosynthate: a review of modelling approaches for regional scales.

A fundamental component of most models of terrestrial carbon balance is an estimate of plant canopy photosynthetic uptake driven by radiation interception by the canopy. In this article, we review approaches used to model the conversion of radiation into photosynthate. As this process is well understood at the leaf-scale, the modelling problem is essentially one of up-scaling, to canopy, regional or global scale.

Process-based models for forest ecosystem management: current state of the art and challenges for practical implementation.

Recent progress toward the application of process-based models in forestmanagement includes the development of evaluation and parameter estimation methods suitable for models with causal structure, and the accumulation of data that can be used in model evaluation. The current state of the art of process modeling is discussed in the context of forest ecosystem management. We argue that the carbon balance approach is readily applicable for projecting forest yield and productivity, and review several carbon balance models for estimating stand productivity and individual tree growth and competition.

Conversion of canopy intercepted radiation to photosynthate: review of modelling approaches for regional scales.

A fundamental component of most models of terrestrial carbon balance is an estimate of plant canopy photosynthetic uptake driven by radiation interception by the canopy. In this article, we review approaches used to model the conversion of radiation into photosynthate. As this process is well understood at the leaf-scale, the modelling problem is essentially one of up-scaling, to canopy, regional or global scale.

Analysis of the growth of rimu (Dacrydium cupressinum) in South Westland, New Zealand, using process-based simulation models.

Two process-based models were used to identify the environmental variables limiting productivity in a pristine, mature forest dominated by rimu (Dacrydium cupressinum Sol. ex Lamb.) trees in South Westland, New Zealand.