Scientists tracked how three common European trees — oak, beech, and spruce — build their water-transport plumbing each growing season, finding that ring-porous oaks like sessile oak have a split personality: early-season wood is highly conductive but vulnerable, while later wood adds bulk with little hydraulic payoff. Beech and spruce, by contrast, grow and gain water-moving capacity in near-lockstep.
1
Ring-porous oak shows a clear mismatch between when it adds wood mass (basal area increment) and when it gains or loses hydraulic conductivity — the two curves are out of phase within the same growing season.
2
Diffuse-porous beech and conifer spruce show tightly coordinated growth and hydraulic gain, meaning a simple delayed growth curve can estimate their water-transport capacity at any point in the season.
3
Oak vessels are progressively occluded by tyloses (internal plugs) as the season advances, causing measurable conductivity loss even while the ring is still growing — a dynamic not seen in beech or spruce.
mail
Weekly plant science — one email, Saturdays.
Check your inbox to confirm — link expires in 24 hours.
Something went wrong — please try again.
Too many signup attempts from your network. Try again in an hour, or email hello@plant.news.
