Articles
Influence of air temperature and humidity, wind and tree-line management practices on apple tree water uptake
Article number
1468_68
Pages
535 – 540
Language
English
Abstract
Australia, being the driest inhabited continent, faces a critical challenge of water scarcity which is worsening due to climate change.
Agriculture makes up ~70% of total water consumption.
Weather strongly influences tree water use, but this response can be mediated by tree line management practices.
These practices range from a weed free herbicide strip through to cultivation and sowing to legume grass cover crops.
In 2024, weather conditions and tree-line management treatments (compost mulch, pea straw mulch, and grass-legume living mulch) were assessed in a four-year-old ‘Southern Bliss’ apple trees in the Huon Valley region of Southern Tasmania.
Temperature and wind speed were positively correlated, and humidity was negatively correlated with tree sap flow.
Treatments significantly affected tree water uptake, estimated by sap flow where average daily water uptake was highest in the pea straw (2.43 L day-1), followed by compost (2.06 L day-1) treatments, and was lowest in the living mulch treatment (1.70 L day-1). Similar trends were observed for hourly and total seasonal sap flow uptake.
These results indicate that while weather strongly influences tree water use pea straw mulch conserved soil moisture and provided greater tree availability relative to the compost treatment, which was more pronounced from mid-November to mid-March.
While the living mulch in the tree line competed with trees for water (and associated nutrients). The experiment will continue to monitor sap flow in these treatments, with an additional mow-and-throw treatment planned for the next season, for more conclusive interpretation.
Agriculture makes up ~70% of total water consumption.
Weather strongly influences tree water use, but this response can be mediated by tree line management practices.
These practices range from a weed free herbicide strip through to cultivation and sowing to legume grass cover crops.
In 2024, weather conditions and tree-line management treatments (compost mulch, pea straw mulch, and grass-legume living mulch) were assessed in a four-year-old ‘Southern Bliss’ apple trees in the Huon Valley region of Southern Tasmania.
Temperature and wind speed were positively correlated, and humidity was negatively correlated with tree sap flow.
Treatments significantly affected tree water uptake, estimated by sap flow where average daily water uptake was highest in the pea straw (2.43 L day-1), followed by compost (2.06 L day-1) treatments, and was lowest in the living mulch treatment (1.70 L day-1). Similar trends were observed for hourly and total seasonal sap flow uptake.
These results indicate that while weather strongly influences tree water use pea straw mulch conserved soil moisture and provided greater tree availability relative to the compost treatment, which was more pronounced from mid-November to mid-March.
While the living mulch in the tree line competed with trees for water (and associated nutrients). The experiment will continue to monitor sap flow in these treatments, with an additional mow-and-throw treatment planned for the next season, for more conclusive interpretation.
Authors
R.S. Sidhu, D.C. Close, O.S. Todorov, N.D. Swarts
Keywords
ground covers, irrigation, organic mulch, sustainable production
Groups involved
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