Suitability of plant physiological methods to estimate the transpiration of agricultural crops

Transpiration is the main part of the water balance in the system soil-plant during the vegetation period. Its determination or calculation is essential for modeling of soil moisture content or solute transport. Transpiration is difficult to quantify because it is influenced by the atmosphere, the soil, and the plants. This paper describes the potential and limitations of plant physiological methods (sap flow, gas exchange, leaf water potential) to estimate the transpiration. A weighable lysimeter was used as reference method. Results are shown for corn Zea mays L.] and rape Brassica napus L.]) for the years 1998 and 1999. At days without rain the diurnal transpiration rates, determined by the plant physiological methods and by the lysimeter differ by less than 12%. The results demonstrate that the plant physiological methods applied are important for an understanding of the complex transpiration process. Limitations lie in the difficulties in up-scaling, and the impossibility of measurements of the absolute actual transpiration rates of agricultural crops for longer periods like months or years.