Correction of flow resistances of plants measured from covered and exposed leaves

The difference in water potential between an enclosed nontranspiring leaf and an adjacent exposed transpiring leaf, and the transpiration rate of a similarly exposed leaf, were used to calculate the change in hydraulic resistance of sorghum (Sorghum bicolor [L.] Moench) and sunflower (Helianthus annuus L.) leaves throughout the day and at various rates of transpiration. Since cotton (Gossypium hirsutum L.) leaves enclosed in aluminum foil alone had enclosed leaf water potentials about 0.06 megapascals lower than similar leaves enclosed in a polyethylene bag shielded with aluminum foil, the sorghum and sunflower leaves were enclosed in polyethylene bags shielded with aluminum foil. Enclosing the exposed leaf in a plastic sheath just prior to excision led to the water potential measured by the pressure chamber technique being 0.3 to 0.4 megapascals higher at rapid transpiration rates than in exposed leaves not sheathed just prior to excision. This error, previously shown to arise from rapid water loss after excision, led to an overestimation of the leaf hydraulic resistance in both species. Correction of the error reduced the resistance by 40 to 90% in irrigated sorghum and by about 40% in irrigated and unirrigated sunflower. After correction, the hydraulic resistances were still flow-dependent, but the dependency was markedly reduced in sorghum.