Publication Date
1985
Location
Kyoto Japan
Description
Field studies of soil and plant water potential as related to transpiration losses of water from grass and shrub species were conducted through a wet and dry season on a wooded grassland in Kenya. Seasonal patterns of leaf conductance and transpiration indicated that deep rooted shrubs utilized more water per unit leaf area than did the dominant grass Digitaria macroblephara. Several shrub species continued to transpire water throughout most of the dry season. Shrub use of deep soil water resources, combined with selective grazing of grasses, may help explain why shrub encroachment into grasslands within Kenya has become a major problem on many rangelands.
Citation
Trlica, M J.; Child, R D.; and Maranga, E K., "Soil and Plant Water Relations on a Wooded Grassland in Kenya" (1985). IGC Proceedings (1985-2023). 8.
(URL: https://uknowledge.uky.edu/igc/1985/ses3/8)
Included in
Agricultural Science Commons, Agronomy and Crop Sciences Commons, Plant Biology Commons, Plant Pathology Commons, Soil Science Commons, Weed Science Commons
Soil and Plant Water Relations on a Wooded Grassland in Kenya
Kyoto Japan
Field studies of soil and plant water potential as related to transpiration losses of water from grass and shrub species were conducted through a wet and dry season on a wooded grassland in Kenya. Seasonal patterns of leaf conductance and transpiration indicated that deep rooted shrubs utilized more water per unit leaf area than did the dominant grass Digitaria macroblephara. Several shrub species continued to transpire water throughout most of the dry season. Shrub use of deep soil water resources, combined with selective grazing of grasses, may help explain why shrub encroachment into grasslands within Kenya has become a major problem on many rangelands.
