Water-use efficiency of Australian tropical trees: mechanistic analysis at multiple scales

拟议的研究将为澳大利亚北部树木的生理功能提供有价值的信息。实验将阐明导致不同树种间水分利用效率差异的机制。这样一种机制的理解将有多重好处：(1)结果将能够被纳入基于过程的北澳大利亚景观碳和水循环模型；(2)它们将为有意优化植物生物量生产和水资源管理的土地管理者提供有价值的信息；(3)为鉴定不同树种水分利用效率高的替代方法提供了重要的试验依据。

The proposed research will provide valuable information about the physiological functioning of trees in northern Australia. Experiments will elucidate mechanisms that can result in variation in water-use efficiency among different tree species. Such a mechanistic understanding will have multiple benefits: (1) results will be able to be incorporated into process-based models of carbon and water cycling in the north-Australian landscape; (2) they will provide valuable information for land managers interested in optimizing both plant biomass production and water resource management; and (3) they will provide a critical test of proxy methods for identifying high water-use efficiency in taxonomically diverse tree species.