Water beneath the pavement: assessing the benefits of passive irrigation for urban Lophostemon confertus trees in western Sydney
Urban environments typically experience higher temperatures than surrounding natural landscapes, making urban vegetation crucial for cooling local areas and improving the health of city residents. Impervious urban surfaces limit the absorption and retention of precipitation, potentially limiting tree water access and threatening long-term survival. Here, we measured tree physiology and growth of Lophostemon confertus (Queensland brush box) trees to investigate how a passive irrigation system that stores stormwater affected the performance of young, establishing trees in a hot and dry suburb of western Sydney, Australia. During the 2024-2025 austral summer, three years after planting, the local climate was periodically hot and dry, with a total of 16 days above 35 C. Irrigated L. confertus trees had higher water availability (i.e., higher predawn leaf water potential, {Psi}pre), lower water stress (i.e., higher midday leaf water potential, {Psi}mid, more frequently above turgor loss point), greater stomatal conductance (gs) on hot and dry summer days, and reduced leaf temperatures (Tleaf), compared to control trees. No significant differences in growth rates were observed between irrigated and control trees during the first three establishment years, but irrigated trees had greater crown survival during the hot, dry summer. Our results suggest passive irrigation may mitigate periods of short-term heat and drought stress in urban trees by increasing water access to support transpiration that prevents leaves from overheating, improving tree health. Higher tree transpiration may lead to greater ecosystem services by increasing cooling benefits, contributing to mitigation of urban heat island effects.