How much water does a woodland or plantation use: a review of some measurement methods

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Determining the water balance of a landscape is important to sustainable management of water, vegetation and land resources. Water flow through vegetation is the principle pathway for the discharge of water from Australian landscapes. The rate of this discharge is determined by solar radiation, leaf area index, vapour pressure deficit and soil moisture content. Tree transpiration from plantations and native woodlands and forests is an important determinant of the water balance of much of the Australian landscape.

Several field-based methods of measuring tree and landscape water use, including sapflow techniques, eddy covariance and scintillometery are briefly discussed.