Diurnal variation in xylem water isotopic signature biases depth of root-water uptake estimates

Abstract

O_LIStable water isotopes are a powerful and widely used tool to derive the depth of root water uptake (RWU) in lignified plants. Uniform xylem water isotopic signature (i-H2O-xyl) along the length of a lignified plant is a central assumption, which has never been properly evaluated.\nC_LIO_LIHere we studied the effects of diurnal variation in RWU, sap flow velocity and various other soil and plant parameters on i-H2O-xyl signature within a plant using a mechanistic plant hydraulic model.\nC_LIO_LIOur model predicts significant variation in i-H2O-xyl along the full length of an individual plant arising from diurnal RWU fluctuations and vertical soil water heterogeneity. Moreover, significant differences in i-H2O-xyl emerge between individuals with different sap flow velocities. We corroborated our model predictions with field observations from French Guiana and northwestern China. Modelled i-H2O-xyl varied considerably along stem length ranging up to 18.3{per thousand} in {delta}2H and 2.2{per thousand} in {delta}18O, largely exceeding the range of measurement error.\nC_LIO_LIOur results show clear violation of the fundamental assumption of uniform i-H2O-xyl and occurrence of significant biases when using stable isotopes to assess RWU. As a solution, we propose to include monitoring of sap flow and soil water potential for more robust RWU depth estimates.\nC_LI