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Updated: Sep 7, 2025

The Calibration and Use of Capacitance Sensors to Monitor Stem Water Content in Trees
Published on: December 27, 2017
Linking tree water use efficiency with calcium and precipitation.
You Yin1, Yong-Bin Zhou2, Hui Li1
1Research Station of Liaohe-River Plain Forest Ecosystem, College of Forestry, Shenyang Agricultural University, Shenyang, Liaoning 110866, China.
Tree water use efficiency (WUE) is influenced by soil calcium and growing season precipitation. Higher soil calcium and lower precipitation correlate with increased WUE, suggesting calcium
Area of Science:
- Plant physiology
- Ecology
- Biogeochemistry
Background:
- Water use efficiency (WUE) is crucial for plant carbon and water relations, but its large-scale determinants remain unclear.
- Predicting WUE under global climate change requires understanding factors influencing it across geographical scales.
- Calcium (Ca) uptake is a passive process driven by transpiration, yet its direct linkage to WUE is not well-established.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate the influence of soil calcium availability and precipitation on tree WUE across a large geographical scale.
- To develop and test a theoretical model quantifying the relationship between tree calcium accumulation and WUE.
- To assess the potential of the soil-to-plant calcium ratio (SCa/BCa) as an indicator of WUE.
Main Methods:
- Field study of three tree species across Northern China (2300 km) and a controlled greenhouse experiment.
- Measurement of tree WUE using stable isotope analysis (δ13C).
- Development of a theoretical model linking tree Ca accumulation and WUE using SCa/BCa.
Main Results:
- Tree WUE showed a negative relationship with growing season precipitation (GSP) and a positive relationship with soil Ca.
- Soil Ca had a greater contribution to WUE than GSP, as indicated by multiple regression and path analysis.
- A positive correlation between WUE and SCa/BCa was observed across species and in the controlled experiment, supporting the theoretical model.
Conclusions:
- Tree WUE is significantly influenced by soil calcium availability and growing season precipitation.
- The soil-to-plant calcium ratio (SCa/BCa) is a potential indicator for tree WUE, reflecting a tight coupling between water and calcium uptake.
- Future drier conditions in Northern China may reduce tree calcium accumulation efficiency.
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