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Sources of water
- Tot water effectively equivalent to 1400x 106 km3 spread on the earth’s surface -3km depth
spread on the surface (Brady, 2002)
- 97% is in oceans; 2% in glaciers, 0.7% is ground water
- Only water in surface waters is actively cycled
- Cycling of water from earth’s surface tothe atm and back again
- Driven by solar energy
- 500 000 km3 evaporated from earth surfaces and vegetation annually; 110 000 km3 fall as rain
and snow on continents; 70 000 km3 evaporated back; 40 000 km3 moves in as clouds from
ocean areas and R/o back to oceans is 40 000 km3
The water balance equation- the fate of precipitation and irrigation water
- 5-10%- intercepted by plant foliage and evaporates to atm without reaching the soil. This can
be up to 10-30% in forest
- Infiltration- water penetrates the soil especially on friable soils of negligible slope. Infiltration
can lead to saturation .
- Runoff water may run off if the soil water intake rate is low especially in intense rainfall
- Deep percolation infiltrated water may be lost in drainage. Deep percolation may move back
up in response to moisture gradients- esp when rainfall is low.
Timing and form of precipitation –eg after soil is frozen or before-intemperate climates
Rate or intensity of precipitation(mm/hr) rel to soil intake rate
Vegetation and soil properties-
o Vegetation affects the amount of run off
o Rate of penetration and amount
o Vegtn provides a soil cover- slows down r/o encouraging infiltration
o Soil properties affect infiltration rate- heavy clays with unstable strc resist
infiltration and increase r/o
o –factors that affect ground cover and soil intake rate affect the distribution of rainfall
between infiltration and r/o.
The Soil-Plant-Atmosphere-Continuum
The Soil-Plant-Atmosphere Continuum SPAC is the pathway for water moving from soil through the plant
to the atmosphere and also refers to the transport of water along this pathway ...
The transport of water along this pathway occurs in components, variously defined among scientific
disciplines:
...concept recognising that the field with all its components (soil, plant, animals and the ambient
atmosphere taken together) constitutes a physically integrated, dynamic system in which the
various flow processes involving energy and matter occur simultaneously and independently like
links in the chain.
Principles governing water movt in SPAC are the same as those governing movt in soil
Movement is in response to a potential difference
Soil water potential must be such that potential in soil is > than potential in roots ie
-50kPa > -70kPa > -75kPa > -85kPa > -500kPa
The main points of resistance are the soil/root and the leaf/atm interfaces
Atmosphere
-2000kPa
Precipitation and
irrigation water 15-30%
Preciptn
Transpiration 100%
intercepted by
15-35%
plants
&evaporated
Leaf surface
(-500kPa) Loss thru
(-85kPa) stoma
Evaporation
15-40%
(-75kPa)
Runoff
-30%
(-50kPa)
Absorption by 40-75%
15-30% root hairs
15-30% (-70kPa)
15-35% 30-65%
10-30%
0-10%
Water potential and water movement
According to thermodynamics - this is the Gibbs free energy (G) or the chemical potential (µw)
of the water
µw = µ0w + R T ln Nw
Where µ0w is the chemical potential of pure water and has a value of zero
R is the gas constant
T is the temperature in K and
Nw is the mole fraction of water
Chemical potential can also be related to the vapour pressure of the water. Raoult's law
…. the vapour pressure of solvent vapour in equilibrium with a dilute solution of a non-
dissociating solute is proportional to the mole fraction of solvent in the solution.
e = e0 . Nw
Where
The availability of soil water to plants is determined by the soil water potential and the movement
of water in the soil.
Water moves in response to a potential gradient. The components of potential differ in effectiveness
depending on the system, particularly on the presence or absence of a differentially permeable
membrane.
In the soil water is held in pores. We commonly have to do work to remove water from the soil. The
equation for capillary rise is used to identify the size of pores which hold water as the soil dries.
The change in potential across the meniscus p = 2/ r
where t = surface tension, and r is the radius of curvature of the meniscus.
The relationship between the volume of water in the soil and the work required to remove the water
is given by the moisture release curve. Pore necks mean that the curve for a drying soil is not
identical to that for a wetting soil - a phenomenon known as hysteresis.
p is positive, so will only operate below a water table, ie when m increases to zero. Also, s only
becomes really important for water movement to plant roots, or for vapour transfer.
The sign for the gravitational component depends on the reference point, but it is often convenient
to use the soil surface.
s becomes important in soils for fertilizer bands. Water can move in vapour form across an air-
water interface towards a dissolving prill or fertilizer band. The soil will eventually saturate in the
region of the fertilizer band and the water will flow away from the area due to the difference in
matric potential.
This is the difference in the volume of water that is held in the soil after it has stopped
draining under gravity (often referred to as field capacity) and the volume held when plants
show permanent wilting. The potential often chosen to determine the upper limit is -0.033
MPa. In most soils a value closer to -0.02 MPa is more appropriate.
The tendency is for there to be less water available in sands and clays, with most being
available in silt-loam soils.
P+I=R+D+S+E
Water Transport
The mass of water that will move through a given area (the flux) is determined by the ratio of the
driving force (which results from the potential difference between the source and sink) and the
resistance to flow.
Where Jv = Flux
Lp = hydraulic conductance of the system (the reciprocal of the resistance)
s = reflection coefficient for salts.
Reflection coefficients for salts (s) range from close to 0 in the absence of a plant membrane to
close to 1 across a plant membrane. An air/water interface is a perfect example of a semi-permeable
barrier where the value of s is 1. Hence s has very little effect on liquid water movement in soil
but has a major effect on movement into and out of plant cells or across an air/water interface.
A temperature gradient has little effect on movement of water in the liquid phase. Water will move
in vapour phase from warmer to cooler regions in response to the lowering of vapour pressure
(Kramer & Boyer, 1995 P. 94-95).
Hydraulic conductivity can decrease by several orders of magnitude between field capacity and
wilting point.
The coarser the soil texture the greater the change in hydraulic conductivity with water content.
Q What are the potentials that contribute to the driving force for water moving through plants ?
Because we are often concerned with cell to cell movement we can ignore g. Similarly there is a
positive hydrostatic pressure inside the cell vacuole so m can also be ignored. Thus
w = p +s
Q What is the driving force for the movement through the whole soil-plant -atmosphere
continuum?
Transpiration
Rn = H + E + h
where Rn = net radiation
H= sensible heat exchange with atmosphere (+ve or -ve)
E= latent heat flux and is the product of the latent heat of vaporization and the mass of water
evaporated
h= energy used in photosynthesis (-ve) or released in other metabolic processes (+ve),
usually not more than 2-3% of Rn.
Normally about 80% of the net radiation is dissipated by evaporation of water from the leaf surface
(transpiration). If water not available for transpiration, leaf temperature rises and heat is transferred
to air.
A well-watered crop may evaporate 5mm water per day. This is equivalent to 5 x 104 kg water
driving force is the difference in vapour pressure between the evaporating surface in the leaf
and that in the air above the leaf : eL - eair.
ie L - air
Q What are the resistances to the transport of water ?
Q What is the vapour pressure in the sub-stomatal cavity relative to the saturated vapour pressure?
The vapour pressure is always very close to saturation (98-99% relative humidity) because
of the wet surfaces of the mesophyll cells.
In free air the vapour pressure hardly change with temperature, but the relative humidity
declines because warm air can hold more water vapour than cooler air.
As the leaf warms, the vapour pressure in the leaf increases, because the vapour pressure of
liquid water increases markedly with temperature.
Q Will transpiration occur in a lighted growth chamber at 100% relative humidity?
The leaf temperature will increase so vapour pressure at the evaporating surface will
increase, and water be transpired.
Q What is the driving force governing water movement between the soil and the leaf ?
IfL is the leaf water potential and S is the soil water potential
The driving force is
There may be a resistance to flow at the peridermis (if one is present). In most cases the greatest
resistance is at the endodermis
Resistance in the soil is unimportant until the soil water content declines such that hydraulic
conductivity decreases.
eL, eair, rL, and rair are all very variable on a daily basis. S, rS, rrt, and rxyl are all relatively constant.
NB leaves will curl to reduce the evaporative surface, as well as close the stomates
Ions continue to be pumped into the xylem even though transpiration has ceased. The
increased concentration results in a lower osmotic potential in the xylem, and a gradient is
developed across the root. Water moves into the xylem in response.
This is the basis of root pressure (Kramer & Boyer, 1995 pp 167=176).
2) The ability of the plant to extract water from soil at a sufficient rate to prevent stress depends on:
1) Water stress affects the various plant processes differently. For example leaf expansion may be
reduced to very low levels at water potentials of -0.2 MPa whereas stomatal closure may not begin
until potential drops to -1.0 MPa.
The following figure (from Stypa et al., 1987: Can J. Soil Sci. 67, 293-308) gives an example of
changes in leaf water potential during the day, and the corresponding values of stomatal
conductance.
To explain these observations we can consider the driving forces and resistances:
Where rP = rxyl + rrt
For July 8 at 5 am eL - ea is small.
Q Why ?
No radiance, so temperature difference is very small - may even have conditions where leaf
is cooler than the air.
rL will be large too because the stomates are closed L will also be large (ie close to zero) .
By midday, eL - ea is large.
Q Why ?
S will not have changed much, (S = -0.1 to -0.2 MPa on irrigated plots, and -0.2 to -0.3
MPa on non-irrigated) so rS will not have changed much either.
The resistances in the root and xylem will not have changed So L gets much smaller (ie
more negative).
In the root
rL large because of stomatal closure - conductance smaller. Stwas close to wilting point (-
1.5 to -1.6 MPa.
The resistances in the root and xylem will not have changed. So L gets even smaller (ie
more negative)
The importance of root distribution
Adding branch roots to a single axis, or new axes all reduce root resistance because the new roots
are in parallel with the original root. The resistances of the two systems are given by:
In consequence, water needs to move less far through the soil to reach a root, and a larger volume of
soil is explored for water and other nutrients.
As xylem resistance is small, though significance, root resistance increases with distance
from the stem.
Root clumping also a significant factor in the exploitation of soil water reserves.
A B C D
Period 91 90 77 83
18/05-28/10
28/10-23/11 9 10 23 17
Note: The mean root concentration factor is an index of root clumping in the soil at 30-50 cm
depth.
For
irrigation, the water used will include drainage and run-off as well as evaporation and transpiration.
Much of the effort in irrigation schemes is to minimize losses through drainage and run-off.
We can also consider the physiological water use efficiency
The resistances for CO2 and water are not the same in all species.
Because of the strong interdependence of C02 uptake and water transpired, for a given crop there is
a reasonably constant relation between yield (Y) and transpiration (T) at a given vapour pressure
deficit (e).
Varia
tion
in
Wate
r Use Efficiency for Wheat
No-till UK 5.2
Plough UK 5.3
Drained UK 5.2
Note that vapour pressure deficits in Utah are much greater in Utah than in the UK.
The traditional concept was that shoot growth was affected by soil water deficit because of the
changes in the water supply to the leaves and meristems.
Over the past 10-15 years it has been established that roots sense a drying soil and send a signal to
the shoot causing reduced leaf expansion or stomatal closure before there is any detectable change
in leaf water status. Davies and Zhang ( Annu. Rev. Plant Physiol. Plant Mol. Biol. 1991. 42, 55-
76) report one of the most elegant demonstrations of roots signalling changes in soil water status.
They measured daily increments in leaf area for apple trees which had their root systems divided
between two pots of soil. Plants were either watered through additions to both pots, or to one pot
only. After 24 days of these treatments, some plants, which had previously had been watered
through one pot had water restored to the roots in the dry soil. Another group of plants
that had also been watered through one pot only, had their roots in the dry soil excised. Growth was
followed over the next 14 days.
After two weeks the plants that had had
the roots excised grew as well as the
rewatered pots, and both grew better than
the half-watered plants. The evidence
seems unmistakable that messages from
the roots in the unwatered pot reduced the
growth of the shoot. Cutting-ff the supply
of the message