Environmental and Physiological Regulation of Water Flux Through a Tropical Forest Ecosystem

迈因策9419500 蒸腾作用，或植物叶片的水分蒸发，是一个生物过程，通过其对土壤水分储存，大气含水量和降雨分布的影响，对我们的物理环境产生重大影响。 人们对热带森林中的植物物种如何在时间和空间上分配和调节它们对土壤水的利用知之甚少，但这种信息对于预测森林砍伐和气候波动对热带和温带地区水平衡的影响至关重要。 本研究的总体目标是确定如何水运动沿着一个连续的从土壤通过植物到大气中调节对比类型的热带森林植物，如上冠层树木，成熟森林的特点，森林间隙殖民植物，这可能是代表收获后的再生。 该项目将在巴拿马史密森热带研究所管理的三个地点进行。 外部环境因素和内在的植物性状在水的利用调节的相对作用的特点。 这项研究将提供独特的详细信息，说明在季节性干旱环境中，不同类型的植物如何在时间和空间上共享土壤水资源。 出现的一般模式将适用于温带森林和其他植物群落以及热带森林。 研究结果将有助于我们的能力，以预测植被在立场和区域尺度上的用水是如何受到物种组成的影响，并应构成一个宝贵的贡献，必要的数据作出明智的决策，在流域管理。

Meinzer 9419500 Transpiration, or evaporation of water from the leaves of plants, is a biological process that has a large impact on our physical environment through its effects on soil water storage, atmospheric water content, and the distribution of rainfall. Little is known about how plant species in tropical forests partition and regulate their use of soil water in time and space, yet such information is critical for predicting the effects of deforestation and climatic fluctuations on the water balance of tropical as well as temperate regions. The overall goal of this research is to determine how water movement along a continuum from the soil through plants to the atmosphere is regulated in contrasting types of tropical forest plants such as upper canopy trees, characteristic of mature forests, and forest gap colonizing plants, which may be representative of regrowth after harvest. The project will be carried out at three sites operated by the Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute in Panama. The relative roles of external environmental factors and inherent plant traits in the regulation of water use will be characterized. The research will provide unique, detailed information about how soil water resources in a seasonally dry environment are shared in time and space among different types of plants. General patterns that emerge will be applicable to temperate zone forests and other plant communities as well as tropical forests. The findings will contribute to our ability to predict how water use by vegetation at the stand and regional scales is influenced by species composition and should constitute a valuable contribution to the data necessary to make informed decisions in watershed management.