Agriculture, Ecosystems and Environment 69 (1998) 265277

Growth and water use by selected seed sources of Eucalyptus

under high water table and saline conditions
Yechiel Zohar, Gabriel Schiller*
Agricultural Research Organization, The Volcani Center, Department of Agronomy and Natural Resources, P.O. Box 6,
Bet Dagan, 50250, Israel
Received 9 July 1997; accepted 24 March 1998

Abstract
The objectives of the research were (a) to determine which of the several selected Israeli provenances (seed sources) of
Eucalyptus camaldulensis and E. occidentalis is growing best under given ecological conditions and high ground water table
and salinity; (b) to determine the water consumption, i.e., transpiration (T) of the provenance that is growing best in most of
the sites and the inuence of the water consumption on the ground water table. Five sites in the Yezre'el valley were selected
as representing a wide range of environmental conditions and of secondary salinization. Of the eight provenances selected
according to the earlier knowledge, the Hedera and Lake Albaqutya provenances had the highest growth rates at all sites.
Under site conditions of low salinity and high ground water table, the 3-year old trees of the Hedera and Lake Albaqutya
provenances achieved a mean annual growth rate of 3.7 m in height and 4.3 cm in diameter, respectively. Under higher salinity
the mean annual growth rate of the same provenances was reduced to 2.3 m in height and 2.7 cm in diameter. At age of 2.5
years, the daily T of the E. camaldulensis plot of 130 trees per 0.1 ha was between 0.90 and 1.20 mm day1 in winter time; and
between 3.90 and 4.50 mm day1 on summer days. At age of 3.5 years, T on summer days was between 4.80 and 5.10 mm
day1. The cumulative water uptake by the Eucalyptus trees, i.e., total T from November 1994 to September 1996 was
1882 mm. During this period the effective rainfall amounted to 950 mm, which means that the plantation used 932 mm, in
excess of the effective rainfall on the site, which resulted in the lowering of the ground water table by 1.20 m. # 1998 Elsevier
Science B.V. All rights reserved.
Keywords: Eucalyptus camaldulensis; Salinization; Ground water table; Transpiration

1. Introduction.
More than 76 million hectares of land world wide
has become salt-affected because of human activity
(Oldman et al., 1991). Secondary salinization resulting from inappropriate water management during the
*Corresponding author. Tel.: +972 3 9683678; fax: +972 3
9669642; e-mail: vcgabi@volcani.agri.gov.il
0167-8809/98/$19.00 # 1998 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.
PII S0167-8809(98)00114-5

last decade, and consequent rising of water tables, has

become a severe problem in the inner valleys of Israel
(Gafni and Salingar, 1992). The main factors which
are responsible are: (a) the considerable expansion of
irrigated agricultural lands often using low-quality
water in large quantities (as much as the annual rainfall); (b) the construction of water reservoirs to
increase irrigation systems efciency, usually built
in the lower parts of the valleys, on or near the main

266

Y. Zohar, G. Schiller / Agriculture, Ecosystems and Environment 69 (1998) 265277

drainage courses, where ground water tables are normally high; (c) improper subsurface drainage systems.
As a result of soil salinization, agricultural activity has
slowed down, and in extreme cases the elds have
been abandoned. The main issue in managing secondary soil salinity is the lowering of the salt-laden water
tables at local and regional scales. Tree planting is
considered as an option for the use of farmland too
saline for economic production of crops and pasture;
the aim is to assist the reclamation by drawing the
ground water, thereby lowering the raised water
tables. Experimental evidence shows that planting
trees on farmland can halt and reverse the rising of
the water table. Three criteria are often quoted when
choosing tree species for soil reclamation: (a) adaptation to site conditions; (b) high water use; (c) multiple
use (Schoeld et al., 1991).
Several species of Eucalyptus, which have been
shown to survive and grow in waterlogged and saline
soils, are being used increasingly to utilize and rehabilitate salt-affected land in Australia (Schoeld et al.,
1989) and elsewhere (Midgley et al., 1986). One of the
most promising species is E. camaldulensis Dehn.
(van der Moezel et al., 1988; Sun and Dickinson,
1993; Sun et al., 1994), which is one of the most
widely distributed and variable species. Field trials
have shown wide variation among provenances in
frost, drought and salinity tolerance; wood properties;
leaf oil content; amount of lignotubers; regeneration
via coppice formation; and growth rate. Therefore, the
choice of the correct provenance is now known to be of
great importance (Eldridge et al., 1993; Farrell et al.,
1996).
Several attempts have been made lately to estimate
the water consumption, i.e., transpiration (T) of Eucalyptus plantations or natural forests in connection with
soil water content and/or water table depth uctua-

tions using the heat pulse velocity technique (Calder,

1992; Roberts and Rosier, 1993; Salaman et al., 1994;
Sun and Dickinson, 1995; Kallarackal and Somen,
1997).
The objectives of the present study are, therefore,
(a) to determine the most productive seed source
among those used for planting of E. camaldulensis
and E. occidentalis in waterlogged and saline conditions; (b) to determine the effect of tree planting and
their growth on ground water table uctuation; and (c)
to determine the water consumption, i.e., T of trees of
the most promising provenance growing at the best
site, using the heat pulse velocity technique.
2. Materials and methods
2.1. Experimental plots, sites, species and
provenances
Five sites (plots), each having an area between 0.4
and 0.6 ha, divided among four randomly placed
replications, were selected in different parts of the
Yezre'el valley in northern Israel, where the high
water table has caused secondary soil salinization.
Each of the sites represent a somewhat different set
of environmental parameters such as: water table
depth, salinization, soil type (alluvial brown grumusols, accumulative grumusols, calcareous grumusols
and alluvial and/or hydromorphic grumusols (Dan and
Raz, 1970)), average annual rainfall and temperature,
etc. Table 1 presents the geographical locations of the
ve sites and the average annual rainfall at three
locations, due to lack of meteorological stations at
the other locations.
In May 1993, after the rainy season had ceased
and before planting, four observation wells for the

Table 1
Geographic location of the research plots
Name

Abbreviation

Longitude E

Latitude N

Average annual rainfall (mm)

Balfuria east
Balfuria west
Ginigar
Merhavia
Nahalal

Bal. E.
Bal. W.
Gin.
Mer.
Nah.

358180
358180
358150
358190
358100

328380
328380
328390
328370
328410

489
447
507

Elevation at all locations is between 50 and 70 m above sea level.

Y. Zohar, G. Schiller / Agriculture, Ecosystems and Environment 69 (1998) 265277

267

Table 2
Origin and number of seed trees of each provenance used to develop the seedlings planted in the research plots
Species and provenance

No. of seed
trees (elite trees)

E. camaldulensis Dehn.
Zanzibar (Zn)
Lake Albaqutya (LA)

2
6

Hedera (Ha)

Broken Hill (BH)

FAO (FAO)

10

Gan Shemuel (GS)

10

E. occidentalis Endl.
Snaim (EOS)

Ma0 os Hayim (EOM)

10

Origin of the seed trees that grow in Israel

Hybrids of E. camaldulensis X E. treticornis developed in Zanzibar, planted at Ilanot.

Lake Albaqutya, Australia, planted at Ilanot. Is considered as one of the superior seed
sources for plantations throughout the Mediterranean region (Anonymous, 1979;
Karschon, 1974; Karschon and Zohar, 1975).
Australia, probably from the area Adelaide, South Australia, planted in the Hedera forest
(Karschon, 1970).
Broken Hill/Silverton, Australia, planted at Kfar Silver. A provenance well known for its
resistance to stress, especially salinity (Eldridge et al., 1993; Heth and Macrae, 1993).
Silverton provenance planted in the provenance trial established by the FAO, planted in
the Hula Valley.
Australia, unknown provenance.
Australia, unknown provenance which is considred to be highly resistant to salt and
waterlogging conditions, planted at Snaim (Zohar, 1974, 1982; Zohar and Moreshet,
1987; Marcar and Crawford, 1996).
F2 of elite trees that grow at Snaim.

measurement of the ground water table depth and

ground water salinity were installed in each research
plot: one well per replication. While preparing the
observation wells, soil samples were taken for chemical analysis in the laboratory. The underground
water table depth and salinity were measured once
each month.
Seeds which resulted from free pollination were
collected at six different seed sources of Eucalyptus
camaldulensis Dehn. and two of Eucalyptus occidentalis Endl. (Table 2). The 6-month old seedlings of the
above-mentioned seed sources were planted in OctoberNovember 1993 in all the research plots; planting
density was 1300 ha1. Each seed source was represented by 16 or 32 seedlings in each of the four
replications per site and in all the ve sites selected.
The growth was monitored once a year; trunk diameter
at base and at breast height (DBH; 1.30 m above
ground) and tree height were measured.
Analysis of Variance, the StudentNewmanKeuls
test (SNK) and Student's t-test were used to analyze
the inuence of the site (the plot), the replication
within the site and the seed source on height, diameter
at breast height and diameter at the base of the trunk.
The analysis was done with the help of the general
linear models procedure (SAS, 1990).

2.2. Water potential, heat pulse velocity and

potential transpiration measurements
Leaf water potential (LWP), as an indicator of soil
water availability to plants, was measured with a
pressure chamber after Scholander et al. (1965) in
the Nahalal research plot once a month. Each set of
measurements involved between 15 and 25 leaves
fully exposed to solar radiation growing at about
45 m height on randomly selected trees of the Hedera
(Ha) and Lake Albaqutya (LA) provenances in the
plot; the measurements were generally taken before
dawn and at midday (12:00 hours local time).
Transpiration of Eucalyptus camaldulensis Dehn.
trees of the Ha and LA seed sources growing in the
Nahalal research plot was determined by using the
calibrated heat pulse technique (Cohen et al., 1981)
with slight modications to the structure of the probe
and the heater. The temperature sensor comprises of
two rods, 3 mm in diameter and 60 mm in length. One
rod bears six thermistors, 8 mm apart along its axis;
the other rod has only one thermistor in the middle,
and serves as a reference. The six-thermistor probe
was inserted into a hole drilled radially in the trunk
15 mm above the heater, and the reference probe was
inserted into a hole drilled at least 100 mm away from

268

Y. Zohar, G. Schiller / Agriculture, Ecosystems and Environment 69 (1998) 265277

the heater. The heating element is a 0.8 mm diameter

nichrome wire, 80 mm long embedded in a stainless
steel tube of 1.8 mm outer diameter.
A battery-powered data logger connected to a junction box enabled the measurements to be made at eight
trees whose height and DBH distributions represent
the height and DBH distributions within the two best
developed seed sources (LA, Ha) at the Nahalal site.
Approximately every month between November 1994
and September 1996 heatpulsevelocity (HPV) measurements in the eight trees were taken on a 1 h cycle,
i.e., 7.5 min per tree, continuously for 7296 h. Sap
ow, e.g., T (l h1 per tree) of the eight selected trees
was computed from HPV, and the relevant parameters:
stem-cross section area, as described in previous
studies (Cohen et al., 1981; Fuchs et al., 1987); the
physical properties of wood such as density, specic
heat and water content; and the calibration coefcient
which is the slope of the linear regression between the
gravimetrically determined water loss and the sap
ow. The discrepancy between the calculated sap ow
and the gravimetrically measured water loss is probably caused by the interruptions of the conducting
vessels in the vicinity of the implanted probes (Cohen
et al., 1981). The slope of the linear regression was
0.565, a value close to that reported for other tree
species (Cohen, 1994). Daily T (l day1 per tree) was
computed by summing the hourly measurements. The
number of trees per unit area (130 trees per 0.1 ha) was
used to calculate T per unit area of forest (mm day1).
A transpiration model described earlier (Fuchs et al.,
1987) was used to calculate the potential transpiration
(PT) (mm day1) after the PenmanMonteith combination equation (Monteith, 1964) as in previous studies (Schiller and Cohen, 1995; Cohen et al., 1997)
[see Appendix A]. An automated meteorological
station that was located within the plot measured
the global radiation (W m2) and the wind velocity
(m sec1) at 5 m above the highest tree in the plot; air
temperature (8C) and relative humidity (%) within the
canopy at 5 m above ground. Data were scanned at
every 7.5 min, averaged over 60 min intervals and
recorded with a battery powered data logger.
LAI (Leaf area index) was calculated from the
measurements on ve trees representing the size of
the average tree within the HA and LA seed sources
growing at Nahalal. The trees were felled and all
leaves were picked and weighed, the leaf areas of

20 samples, each of 100 g f.w. were determined, and

the average leaf area of the trees was calculated.
3. Results
3.1. Soil properties, water table depth fluctuations
and underground water salinity
Large differences among the research sites and
among the replications within the sites were revealed.
The lowest values of soil salinity parameters expressed
in the amount of the Cl anion (ppm) were recorded at
Balfuria east between 443 and 645 ppm, and at Nahalal between 507 and 682 ppm. Highest soil salinity
was recorded at Ginigar between 1073 and 3606 ppm.
The highest salinity at Ginigar was recorded in the
upper soil layer (030 cm); at Merhavia, highest
salinity was between 180 and 210 cm; at Nahalal,
between 60 and 90 cm; at Balfuria west, between
90 and 120 cm; and at Balfuria east, between 0 and
30 cm.
Fig. 1 shows underground water table salinity in
millimohs/cm. Lowest salinity was recorded at Balfuria west and Nahalal and highest at Merhavia and
Ginigar; it tended to increase towards and during the
summer months, with the lowering of the water table.
The largest uctuations in underground water salinity
were recorded at Merhavia and the lowest ones at
Balfuria West.
Fig. 2 shows underground water table depth uctuation during each of the years of measurements at
the ve sites. The highest water table was recorded
between January and April and the lowest at the end of
the summer, i.e., AugustNovember, probably reecting the annual distribution of rainfall, water consumption by vegetation and underground ow. The standard
error of the calculated mean water table depth seen in
each of the gures reects the large differences in
water table depth among the four wells within each
plot, which probably resulted from the differences in
the location of the wells in relation to the edge of the
research plot and, therefore, to the ground water ow;
the standard error was larger in summer than in winter.
Due to the low annual rainfalls in 1994 and 1995 a
general lowering of the ground water table was
observed in the Yezre'el valley. In 1996 at all sites,
except for Balfuria west, there was a signicant

Y. Zohar, G. Schiller / Agriculture, Ecosystems and Environment 69 (1998) 265277

269

Fig. 1. Underground water table salinity fluctuations during 19931996 at: A-Nahalal, B-Merhavia, C-Ginigar, D-Balfuria east and E-Balfuria
west. (Bars indicate s.d. of the mean).

270

Y. Zohar, G. Schiller / Agriculture, Ecosystems and Environment 69 (1998) 265277

Fig. 2. Water table depth fluctuation inside (*) and out side (
) the research plots during 19931996 at: A-Nahalal, B-Merhavia, C-Ginigar,
D-Balfuria east and E-Balfuria west. (Bars indicate s.d. of the mean).

Y. Zohar, G. Schiller / Agriculture, Ecosystems and Environment 69 (1998) 265277

lowering of the ground water table within the trial

plots, in comparison with its depth in the control wells
outside the trial plots.
3.2. Tree growth and development
At the age of three years large and signicant
differences in tree growth parameters within sites
between seed sources were revealed using ANOVA,
the StudentNewmanKeuls test (SNK) and the Student's t-test. Site and seed source had a signicant
inuence on tree growth, whereas the interaction of
site X seed source was not signicant because at each
site the ranking of the seed sources in their growth
parameters changed. Results of the t-test and SNK
test revealed that the overall tree development
was best at Nahalal, Balfuria west and east, whereas
at Ginigar and Merhavia the development was
retarded [The overall mean height (m) was 9.63,
9.44, 8.71, 6.33 and 6.09, respectively]. The rst
three sites form one group in which the sites do
not differ signicantly by t-test or by SNK test; the
two other sites, i.e., Ginigar and Merhavia differ
signicantly from the rst three sites and from one
another.
Seed source inuence on the growth of trees within
sites, analyzed by ANOVA revealed that only at
Nahalal, Balfuria east and Ginigar there were signicant differences (Prob. of F between 0.001 and 0.049)
in tree growth among seed sources. The mean height
of the highest provenance at Nahalal was 11.1 m and
of the lowest was 6.88 m, respectively. Results of the
SNK test revealed that among the eight seed sources,
the three best ones at most of the sites are Ha, LA and
Zn. Results of the t-tests revealed that at Balfuria east
the seed sources Ha, LA and Zn differed signicantly
from the BH and EOM seed sources in all measured
parameters; at Ginigar the seed sources Ha and LA
differed signicantly from the BH and ES seed sources
in their growth parameters, and at Nahalal the, Ha, LA,
Zn and GS seed sources differed signicantly from the
EOM and EOS seed sources. Due to the high standard
deviations and standard error of the means, which
results from the very wide diversity in growth within
each of the eight seed sources and within each of the
four replications in each of the ve sites, and among
the sites, low and mostly not signicant results were

271

obtained from ANOVA, SNK test and t-tests. Therefore, in each of the sites a selection of the best 30% of
the trees, according to volume production (m3) was
made, and the selected trees were then separated, according to their seed source. The results revealed that
trees with the highest volume production were mainly
of the Ha, LA and Zn seed sources. Large differences
in volume production occurred among trees from the
same seed source grown in different places; volume
production of all seed sources was best at Nahalal and
Balfuria west, production at the three other sites was
retarded.
3.3. Water potentials and transpiration
Mean LWP varied very little during the measurement period probably because of the relatively high
water table and the unlimited water supply. Predawn
LWP averaged 0.65 MPa whereas those measured at
noon averaged 1.50 MPa.
Fig. 3 presents an example of the diurnal course of
T and PT in August, as calculated from the diurnal
course of the heat pulse velocity in eight trees of the
Ha and La provenances, of a 0.1 ha plantation at
Nahalal containing 130 trees, and having a LAI of
6.65. The diurnal course of T followed closely that of
the PT, i.e., the solar ux density; however, heat pulse
velocity, i.e., sap ow was measured also during the
night in the summer and was found to have an average
of about 0.05 mm h1. According to season, the ratio
T/PT varied between 0.132 and 0.935.
Fig. 4 presents the yearly course of daily T of the E.
camaldulensis plot at Nahalal, based on the average
tree T, that was between 0.90 and 1.20 mm day1 per
unit forested area in winter and between 3.90 and
4.50 mm day1 on summer days at the age of 2.5
years. At the age of 3.5 years, T on summer days was
between 4.80 and 5.10 mm day1.
Fig. 5 presents the calculated cumulative T i.e.,
water uptake by the Eucalyptus trees, from November
1994 to September 1996, which was 1882 mm. During
this period, the rainfall amounted to 1117 mm; taking
into account interception of 15% (Karschon and Heth,
1967; Hall et al., 1992), i.e., 168 mm within the same
period, the effective rainfall was only 950 mm; this
means that the plantation used 932 mm in excess of
the effective rainfall on the site.

272

Y. Zohar, G. Schiller / Agriculture, Ecosystems and Environment 69 (1998) 265277

Fig. 3. Daily course of the mean T and PT (mm h1) of a Eucalyptus camaldulensis Dehn plantation of 0.1 ha in August at Nahalal (bars
indicate s.d. of the mean).

Fig. 4. Yearly course of mean daily transpiration (mm 0.1 ha1 day1) of a Eucalyptus camaldulensis Dehn plantation at Nahalal during the
measurement period (bars indicate s.d. of the mean).

4. Discussion
Reclamation of the marginal agricultural lands,
which suffers from insufcient drainage and secondary salinity, requires the selection of highly salt- and
waterlogging-tolerant plants. Florence (1996) indi-

cated that Eucalyptus was placed tentatively in the

highest of the ve categories based on the water use
attributes, growth characteristics and tolerance of
stresses such as drought. E. camaldulensis is categorized as a species that is capable of exceptional early
growth on good sites, and stands may reach maximum

Y. Zohar, G. Schiller / Agriculture, Ecosystems and Environment 69 (1998) 265277

273

Fig. 5. Daily accumulated transpiration (mm) of a Eucalyptus camaldulensis Dehn plantation at Nahalal during 708 days of the measurement
period.

annual volume production as early as 4 or 5 years of

age. The mean annual growth rate of tree height and
diameter at the age of three years at Nahalal, the best
site with regard to ecological conditions and low
salinity, were 3.7 m and 4.3 cm, respectively. These
data were determined for the Ha and LA seed sources,
which are the best seed sources of E. camaldulensis,
under high water table and low salinity in the present
study. At sites of higher salinity, the mean annual
growth rates were reduced to 2.3 m and 2.7 cm,
respectively, which are still impressive in comparison
with the annual growth rates of this species in other
sites in Israel (Karschon, 1974) or other Mediterranean countries such as Morocco (Anonymous, 1979)
and, especially, in Australia (Fraser et al., 1996).
As the water use of a tree is correlated with its size
(Fraser et al., 1996), especially, to its leaf area
(Roberts and Rosier, 1993; Taylor and Nuberg,
1996), it can be assumed that the superiority of the
best-growing seed sources would be expressed also in
their T rates. Under high water table and low to
medium salinity, 2-year-old trees of the two bestgrowing seed sources, Ha and LA, transpired between
0.90 and 1.20 mm day1 from 0.1 ha with 130 trees, in
winter, and the average 2.5-year old tree between 3.90
and 4.50 mm day1 from 0.1 ha, in summer. At age of
three, T on summer days was estimated to be between

4.80 and 5.10 mm day1 from 0.1 ha. This high T rate
summed up to 1882 mm per 0.1 ha in 708 days when
aged between 2 and 3.5 years, while the effective
rainfall during this period was 950 mm. The difference
of 932 mm between the estimated amount of water
used by the trees, i.e., T, and the effective amount of
rainfall may partly explain the lowering of the water
table within the Nahalal site by 1200 mm relative to
the control in September 1996. If 5% porosity in this
grumusol soil is taken into account, this soil volume
can contribute only 60 mm of water. The source of the
other 872 mm of water used was probably ground
water owing underground from the surrounding area
into the plantation, because of the creation of a
gradient in the groundwater table. These high T rates
are in accordance with the results cited (e.g., Calder et
al., 1992; Roberts and Rosier, 1993; Salaman et al.,
1994; Sun and Dickinson, 1995; Kallarackal and
Somen, 1997). Calder (1992) concluded that ``Eucalyptus species which are growing in areas where
atmospheric demand is high and soil water is freely
available T may well be at rates dictated solely by the
atmospheric demand and justify their reputations as
marsh reclaimers and water pumps''. This pattern of
growth might reect evolutionary adaptation to the
sites where water is available in the upper soil prole
for a relatively short period only, so that it is essential

274

Y. Zohar, G. Schiller / Agriculture, Ecosystems and Environment 69 (1998) 265277

to develop a deeply penetrating root system quickly, so

as to maintain contact with water at depth. This
species is capable of rapid water use and has been
successfully used in a number of countries to help
control swamps and wetlands. Mensforth et al. (1994)
reported that E. camaldulensis, growing on the Chowilla anabranch system of the Murray river in southeastern Australia, has the ability to use water with
salinity of 1039 dS m; the trees continued to use the
saline water even if high-quality water was available.
E. camaldulensis appeared to be opportunistic in the
source of the water it used. The results of this research
further conrm previous ndings on the ability of E.
camaldulensis to develop intensively under waterlogging and salinity stress (Morris, 1984; van der Moezel
et al., 1988, 1989, 1991; Marcar, 1993; Sun et al.,
1994). However, there is a considerable variation
within the species and care should be taken in the
choice of provenances for the reclamation of the
damaged agricultural lands. The most promising seed
sources in the present study, characterized by high but
widely variable water table and salinity, are the Ha and
the LA seed sources. The LA seed source, as mentioned above (Section 2), has proved consistently
superior throughout the Mediterranean region.
Eldridge and Cromer (1987) suggested the following
hypothesis why this may be so: ``LA receives abundant water only at the intervals of a decade or two and,
as the lake dries out, the trees are subjected to increasing levels of drought and salinity. In this case, natural
selection may have led to an enhanced form of opportunism within the lake population, so that where
growing conditions are favourable for a brief period
the trees grow very rapidly, particularly through the
seedling and sapling stages''.
There was a wide variation within seed sources, in
growth parameters, to such a degree that there were
difculties in the statistical analysis. This variation is
probably the result of using seed material produced by
open pollination. Therefore, for better utilization of
the growth potential under waterlogging and saline
conditions, the best trees within the Ha and LA seed
source should be selected for the establishment of
clones (Farrell et al., 1996).
The applicable conclusion of the present study is
that the use of superior seed sources or clones of
Eucalyptus camaldulensis Dehn may be benecial,
on the one hand, to the productivity of the plantation,

as an economic alternative for marginal land and, on

the other hand as an efcient biological drainer. The
lowering of the ground water table by about 1 m
facilitates the drainage of the accumulated salt from
the soil.
Acknowledgements
The authors acknowledge the nancial and technical support, to this research project No. 274-0036, by
the Forest Department, Land Development Authority
of the Jewish National Fund (KKL), Israel; and by the
Lower Galilee Agricultural Research and Development Project Administration.
Appendix A
PT (MJ m2 s1) was calculated with the Penman
Monteith combination equation (Monteith, 1964)
PT s=s gRn frCp =s grn ea eg
(1)
where s is the slope of the saturation vapor pressure curve(kPa 8C1), g is the psychrometric constant (kPa 8C1), Rn is the net radiation ux density
(MJ m2 s1), r is the density of air (kg m3), Cp is the
specic heat of air (MJ kg1 8C1), eae is the vapor
pressure decit (kPa).
The resistance for water ux from the canopy (rn)
was computed as:
rn ra rb =Ls

(2)
1

ra is the aerodynamic resistance (s m ), rb is the

boundary layer resistance (s m1), and Ls is the sunlit
leaf area index. Eq. (1) expresses the actual evaporative demand of an arid environment, the energy balance in the equation is for leaves, therefore, the
conductive heat ux density into the plant and soil
can be neglected.The net radiation Rn was computed
after Fuchs et al. (1987).
Rn 0:55n fKLs Rln

(3)

The constant, 0.55 is the absorption of a single leaf

weighted for the mean spectral composition of solar
radiation, n is an empirical factor between 0 and 1
which accounts for radiation entrapment resulting

Y. Zohar, G. Schiller / Agriculture, Ecosystems and Environment 69 (1998) 265277

from multiple scattering among sunlit leaves. A constant value of 0.5 was assigned to n; this value limits
the multiple reections during the absorption process
to 2, f0.5/ (the sun angle from the zenith), K is the
global radiation, Rln is the net thermal radiation.The
aerodynamic resistance, ra for the forest, computed
after Fuchs et al. (1987) is expressed as
ra flnz d0 =z0 lnz d=zE =0:168u

rb 300I=u0 0:5

(5)

where
u0 u lnh d=z0 =lnz d=z0

(6)

and I is the average Eucalyptus leaf width of 10 mm.

Transpiration from the trees was determined with a
calibrated heat pulse technique for sap ow measurements in the stem (Cohen et al., 1981). The convective
velocity (v) of a heat wave from a heating wire radially
inserted into the xylem wood of a large stem was
expressed as
V r 2 4Ktm 1=2 =tm

(7)

where r is the distance between the heater and the

temperature sensor, k is the thermal diffusivity of the
wet xylem wood, and tm is the elapsed time (s) between the heat pulse and the occurrence of maximum
temperature at the temperature sensor location. The
measurement of tm allows the computation of the sap
ux density Jl.
JI rcV=rI cI

so that
k r2 =4tm

(8)

where rl (kg m3) and cl (MJ kg1 8C1), respectively, are the density and specic heat of the liquid
phase, and r and c are those of the wet xylem wood.
The thermal diffusivity, k, is determined when no
convective heat transport is taking place, i.e., V0,

(9)

The total volumetric sap ow, F can be calculated by

integrating the sap ux density over the cross-sectional stemxylem wood area, as follows
sd
Z

JI ds

(4)

where 0.168 is the von Karman's constant raised to the

power 2, u is the wind speed (m s1) measured at
height z (m), and d (m) is the displacement height
0.66 m, z0 (m) is the roughness length, 0.05 m (Jarvis
et al., 1976), zE (m) is the roughness length for sensible
heat transfer taken as 20% of z0, and h (m) is the
average tree height (Garratt and Hicks, 1973).The
boundary layer resistance of a leaf is (e.g., Campbell,
1977):

275

(10)

so

where ds is the element of cross-sectional stemxylem

area in which JI has been determined and d is the
sapwood depth.Density, specic heat and water content of the wet xylem wood were measured in wood
samples using a Pressler borer. The measurements
were taken on adjacent trees of similar DBH to that
of the measured trees.
References
Anonymous, 1979. Eucalyptus for planting. FAO, Rome, Italy,
Forestry Series No. 11, 677 pp.
Calder, I.R., Hall, R.L, Adlard, P.G., 1992. Growth and Water use
of Forest Plantations. Wiley, New York, NY, 381 pp.
Calder, I.R., 1992. Water use of Eucalyptus a review. In: Calder,
I.R., Hall, R.L., Adlard, P.G. (Eds.), Growth and Water use of
Forest Plantations. Wiley, New York, NY, pp. 167179.
Campbell, G.S., 1977. An Introduction to Environment Biophysics.
Springer, Berlin.
Cohen, Y., 1994. Thermoelectric methods for measurement of sap
flow in plants. In: Stenhill, G. (Ed.), Advances in Bioclimatology, vol. 3, Springer, Heidelberg, Germany, pp. 6388.
Cohen, Y., Fuchs, M., Green, G.C., 1981. Improvement of the heat
pulse method for determining sap flow in trees. Plant Cell
Environ. 4, 391397.
Cohen, Y., Adar, E., Dody, A., Schiller, G., 1997. Underground
water use by Eucalyptus trees in an Arid climate. Trees 11,
356362.
Dan, J., Raz, Z., 1970. Soil Association Map of Israel. Ministry of
Agriculture, The Volcani Institute of Agricultural Research,
Soil Conservation and Drainage Department, Israel, 150 pp.
Eldridge, K.G., Cromer, R.N., 1987. Adaptation and physiology of
Eucalyptus in relation to genetic improvement. Proc. of
Symposium on Silvicultural and Genetic Improvement of
Forest species. Buenos Aires, pp. 85100.
Eldridge, K.G., Davidson, J., Harwood, C., van Wyk, G., 1993.
Eucalypt domestication and breeding. Oxford Science Publications, Oxford, 288 pp.
Farrell, R.C.C., Bell, D.T., Akilan, K., Marshall, J.K., 1996.
Morphological and physiological comparisons of clonal lines of
Eucalyptus camaldulensis. II. responses to waterlogging/
salinity and alkalinity. Austr. J. Plant. Physiol. 23, 497507.

276

Y. Zohar, G. Schiller / Agriculture, Ecosystems and Environment 69 (1998) 265277

Florence, R.G., 1996. Ecology and Silviculture of Eucalyptus

forests. CSIRO, Australia, 413 pp.
Fraser, G.W., Thorburn, P.J., Taylor, D.W., 1996. Growth and water
use of trees in saline land in south east Queensland. 4th
National Conference and Workshop on The Productive Use and
Rehabilitation of Saline Lands, Albany, western Australia: pp.
219224.
Fuchs, M., Cohen, Y., Moreshet, S., 1987. Determining transpiration from meteorological data and crop characteristics for
irrigation management. Irrig. Sci. 8, 9199.
Gafni, A., Salingar, Y., 1992. Hydraulic and salinity regime of two
affected sites in the Yizre'el valley. Israel. Hydrological
Processes 6, 5565.
Garratt, J.R., Hicks, B.B., 1973. Momentum, heat and water vapor
transfer to and from natural and artificial surfaces. Q. J. R.
Meteorol. Soc. 99, 680.
Hall, R.L., Calder, I.R., Rosier, P.T.W., Swaminath, M.H., Mumtaz,
J., 1992. Measurements and modelling of interception loss from
Eucalyptus plantation in southern India. In: Calder, I.R., Hall,
R.L., Adlard, P.G. (Eds.), Growth and Water Use of Forest
Plantations. Wiley, New York, NY, pp. 207289.
Heth, D., Macrae, S., 1993. Selection of salt-tolerant clones of
Eucalyptus camaldulensis Dehn. South African Fores. J. 164,
2126.
Jarvis, P.G., James, G.B., Landsberg, J.J., 1976. Coniferous forests.
In: Monteith, J.L. (Ed.), Vegetation and the Atmosphere. vol. 2.
Academic Press, London, pp. 171240.
Kallarackal, J., Somen, C.K., 1997. Water use by Eucalyptus
treticornis stands of differing density in southern India. Tree
Physiol. 17, 195203.
Karschon, R., 1970. On the possible origin of some near-eastern
forms of Eucalyptus camaldulensis Dehn. Israel J. Agric. Res.
20, 101105.
Karschon, R., 1974. The relation of seed origin to growth of
Eucalyptus camaldulensis Dehn. Israel J. Agric. Res. 23, 159
173.
Karschon, R., Heth, D., 1967. The water balance of a plantation of
Eucalyptus camaldulensis Dehn. Contribution on Eucalyptus in
Israel, vol. III. Div. For. Agric. Res. Organ. Ilanot, pp. 734.
Karschon, R., Zohar, Y., 1975. Effect of flooding and of irrigation
water salinity on Eucalyptus camaldulensis Dehn. from three
seed sources. Div. For. Agric. Res. Organ. Ilanot, Leaflet No.
54.
Marcar, N.E., 1993. Waterlogging modifies growth, water use and
ion concentration in seedlings of salt-treated Eucalyptus
camaldulensis, E. tereticornis, E. robusta and E. globulus.
Austr. J. Plant Physiol. 20, 113.
Marcar, N.E., Crawford, D.F., 1996. Other productive uses of saline
land: tree-growing strategies. 4th National Conference and
Workshop on: The Productive Use and Rehabilitation of Saline
Lands, Albany, western Australia, pp. 2338.
Mensforth, L.S., Thorburn, P.J., Tyerman, S.D., Walker, G.L.,
1994. Sources of water used by riparian Eucalyptus camaldulensis overlying highly saline groundwater. Oecologia 100, 21
28.
Midgley, S.J., Turnbull, J.W., Hartney, V.J., 1986. Fuelwood
species for salt-affected sites. Reclam. Reveg. Res. 5, 285303.

Monteith, J.L., 1964. Evaporation and environment. The State and

Movement of Water in Living Organisms. Proc. 19th Symp.
Soc. Exp. Biol. Swansea, Academic Press, New York, pp. 205
234.
Morris, J.D., 1984. Establishment of trees and shrubs on a saline
site using drip irrigation. Austr. For. 47, 210217.
Oldman, L.R., van Engelen, V.W.P., Pulles, J.H.M., 1991. The
extent of human-induced soil degradation. In: Oldeman, L.R.,
Hakkeling, R.T.A., Sombroek, W.G. (Eds.), World Map of the
Status of Human-Induced Soil Degradation: An Explanatory
Note. Wageningen: International Soil Reference and Information Center (ISIR), pp. 2733.
Roberts, J., Rosier, P.T.W., 1993. Physiological studies in young
Eucalyptus stands in southern India and derived estimates of
forest transpiration. Agric. Water Manage. 24, 103118.
Salaman, R.B., Bartle, G.A., Farrington, B.P., 1994. Water use of a
Eucalyptus camaldulensis plantation estimated by ground water
hydrograph separation technique and heat pulse method. J.
Hydrol. 156, 163180.
SAS Institute Inc., 1990. SAS Language: Reference, Version 6, 1st
ed. Cary, NC, SAS Institute Inc., 1042 pp.
Schiller, G., Cohen, Y., 1995. Water regime of a pine forest under a
Mediterranean climate. Agric. For. Met. 74, 181193.
Schofield, N.J., Loh, I.C., Scott, P.R., Bartle, J.R., Ritson, P., Bell,
R.W., Anson, B., Moor, R., 1989. Vegetation strategies to
reduce stream salinities of water resources catchments in southwest western Australia. Report to the Steering Committee for
Research on Land Use and Water Supply. Water Authority of
W. A. Report No. WS33. 98 pp.
Schofield, N.J., Bari, M.A., Bell, D.T., Boddington, W.J., George,
R.J., Pettit, N.E., 1991. The role of trees in land and stream
salinity control in western Australia. National Conference and
Workshop on: The Role of Trees in Sustainable Agriculture, pp.
2143.
Scholander, P.F., Hammel, H.T., Bradstreet, E.D., Hemminsen,
E.A., 1965. Sap pressure in vascular plants. Science 149, 339
346.
Sun, D., Dickinson, G.R., 1993. Responses to salt stress of 16
Eucalyptus species, Gravillea robusta, Lophostemon confertus
and Pinus caribaea var. hondurensis. For. Ecol. Manage. 60, 1
14.
Sun, D., Dickinson, G.R., Bragg, A., 1994. The establishment of
Eucalyptus camaldulensis on tropical saline site in north
Queensland. Austr. Agric. Ecosyst. Environ. 48, 18.
Sun, D., Dickinson, G.R., 1995. Salinity effects on tree growth,
root distribution and transpiration of Casuarina cunninghamiana and Eucalyptus camaldulensis planted on a saline
site in tropical north Australia. For. Ecol. Manage. 77, 127138.
Taylor, J., Nuberg, I.K., 1996. The potential impacts of interception
belts of trees on soil salinity and groundwater levels in the
upper south east of south Australia. 4th National Conference
and Workshop on The Productive Use and Rehabilitation of
Saline Lands. Albany, western Australia, pp. 273277.
van der Moezel, P.G., Watson, L.E., Pearce-Pinto, G.V.N., Bell,
D.T., 1988. The response of six Eucalyptus species and
Casuarina obesa to the combined effect of salinity and
waterlogging. Austr. J. Plant. Physiol. 15, 465474.

Y. Zohar, G. Schiller / Agriculture, Ecosystems and Environment 69 (1998) 265277

van der Moezel, P.G., Watson, L.E., Bell, D.T., 1989. Gas exchange
responses of two Eucalyptus species to salinity and waterlogging. Tree Physiol. 5, 251257.
van der Moezel, P.G., Gladys, V.N., Pearce-Pinto, G.V.N., Bell,
D.T., 1991. Screening for salt and waterlogging tolerance in
Eucalyptus and Melaleuca species. For. Ecol. Manage. 40, 27
37.

277

Zohar, Y., 1974. The autecology of Eucalyptus occidentalis Endl.

Ph.D. Thesis, Tel-Aviv University, Tel Aviv, 92 pp.
Zohar, Y., 1982. Growth of Eucalyptus on saline soils in the Wadi
Arava. La -Yaaran, 33, 50, 912 (in Hebrew and English).
Zohar, Y., Moreshet, S., 1987. Provenances of Eucalyptus
occidentalis in the arid zone of Israel. For. Ecol. Manage. 22,
7177.