Root water uptake patterns are controlled by tree  species interactions and soil water variability

Demir, Gökben; Guswa, Andrew J.; Filipzik, Janett; Metzger, Johanna Clara; Römermann, Christine; Hildebrandt, Anke

doi:https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-28-1441-2024

Articles | Volume 28, issue 6

https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-28-1441-2024

© Author(s) 2024. This work is distributed under
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.

https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-28-1441-2024

© Author(s) 2024. This work is distributed under
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.

Articles | Volume 28, issue 6

Research article

|

02 Apr 2024

Research article |

| 02 Apr 2024

Root water uptake patterns are controlled by tree species interactions and soil water variability

Gökben Demir, Andrew J. Guswa, Janett Filipzik, Johanna Clara Metzger, Christine Römermann, and Anke Hildebrandt

Supplement

https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-28-1441-2024-supplement

Data sets

Weekly cumulated throughfall and rain data, April-August 2019, Hainich, Germany, project AquaDiva Gökben Demir et al. https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.10563567

High-resolution throughfall measurement design since 2019, Hainich, Germany, project AquaDiva Gökben Demir et al. https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.10563472

High-resolution soil water content, March-August 2019, Hainich, Germany, project AquaDiva Gökben Demir et al. https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.10563871

Soil moisture sensor network, design, location attributes and soil properties, Hainich, Germany, project AquaDiva Johanna Clara Metzger et al. https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.8065170

Root water uptake, May-July 2019, Hainich, Germany, project AquaDiva Gökben Demir and Anke Hildebrandt https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.10564735

Short summary

Experimental evidence is scarce to understand how the spatial variation in below-canopy precipitation affects root water uptake patterns. Here, we conducted field measurements to investigate drivers of root water uptake patterns while accounting for canopy induced heterogeneity in water input. We found that tree species interactions and soil moisture variability, rather than below-canopy precipitation patterns, control root water uptake patterns in a mixed unmanaged forest.