Responses of petiole sap flow to light and vapor pressure deficit in the tropical tree Tabebuia rosea (Bignoniaceae)

Continuous measurements of sap flow have been widely used to estimate water flux through tree stems and branches. However, stem-level measurements lack the resolution necessary for accurately determining fine-scale, leaf-level responses to environmental variables. We used the heat ratio method to measure sap flow rates through leaf petioles and leaflet petiolules of saplings of the tropical tree Tabebuia rosea (Bignoniaceae) to determine how leaf and leaflet sap flow responds to variation in photosynthetically active radiation (PAR) and vapor pressure deficit (VPD). In the morning sap flow rates to east-facing leaves increased 26 minutes before adjacent west-facing leaves. Integrated daily sap flow was negatively correlated with daily mean VPD, and sap flow declined when VPD exceeded 2.2 kPa whether this occurred in the morning or afternoon, consistent with a feedforward response to humidity. Indeed, changes in VPD lagged behind changes in sap flow. In contrast, changes in PAR often preceded changes in sap flow. The sap flow-VPD relationship was characterized by two distinct patterns of hysteresis, while the sap flow-PAR relationship displayed three types of hysteresis, and the type of VPD hysteresis that occurred on a given day was correlated with the type of PAR hysteresis occurring on that day. These patterns highlight how multiple environmental drivers interact to control leaf sap flux and that the development of sap flow sensors capable of measuring individual leaves could drastically influence the amount of data recordable for these structures.