Water and nutrient dynamics and tree growth

The balance in the investment of assimilate at any time into leaves and roots may depend on whether water, nutrients or radiation are limiting to growth. Also, for the same investment of assimilate into roots, the root configuration may range from intensive to extensive in both space and time, to take best advantage of the distribution and amount of water and nutrients. Intensive root configurations, which include mycorrhizas and proteoid roots, assist in the uptake of nutrients (such as phosphorus) which are rate-limiting in soil. Mycorrhizas may assist in water uptake in dry or coarse textured soils with low unsaturated hydraulic conductivities.

Adaptations which assist trees to survive in dry and nutrient-deficient environments are discussed. These mechanisms may reduce, maintain or increase growth. In production forestry, it is desirable to exploit those mechanisms which increase growth. When soil water and nutrients limit tree growth, productivity may be improved by increasing the amount of uptake of water and nutrients, or by increasing the efficiency by which they are used in growth. Maximizing water-use efficiency when soil water supply is limiting may be dependent on whether the trees are in mixed stands or in monoculture. Selecting trees with relatively less root may improve productivity in monocultures when weeds are controlled and fertilizer is added. It is well known that trees can ‘re-use’ nutrients by retranslocating them within the tree to zones of demand. Relatively little is known, though, about differences in the biochemical involvement of nutrients at the cellular and subcellular level which contribute to differences in nutrient-use efficiency in trees.