A new method to determine the oxygen concentration inside the sapwood of trees.
Research into the short-term fluctuations of oxygen concentrations in tree stems has been hampered by the difficulty of measuring oxygen inside tissues. A new method, which is based on fluorescence quenching of a ruthenium complex in the presence of oxygen, has been applied to measure changes of oxygen concentration in the sapwood of trees. During a field day-course oxygen increased with the radiation load and fell during the night (in Fagus orientalis from 20.3% in the afternoon to 17.5% in the morning next day). In a greenhouse experiment the sapwood oxygen concentration of Laurus nobilis could be influenced by flooding the root system. The very fast response, high resolution (better than 0.1%), easy calibration, and dependence only on oxygen and temperature make the technique well suited for measurements of oxygen concentrations in the sapwood.
del Hierro
Andrés Miguel
AM
Institut für Botanik, Universität für Bodenkultur Wien, Gregor Mendel Str. 33, A-1180 Wien, Austria. adelhier@edv1.boku.ac.at
Kronberger
Winfried
W
Hietz
Peter
P
Offenthaler
Ivo
I
Richter
Hanno
H
D000465:Algorithms; D004780:Environment, Controlled; D029964:Fagus / Q000737:chemistry / Q000528:radiation effects; D027442:Laurus / Q000737:chemistry / Q000528:radiation effects; D010100:Oxygen / Q000032:analysis* / Q000378:metabolism / Q000528:radiation effects; D018517:Plant Roots / Q000737:chemistry / Q000187:drug effects; D018547:Plant Stems / Q000737:chemistry* / Q000528:radiation effects; D018526:Plant Transpiration / Q000187:drug effects / Q000528:radiation effects; D013696:Temperature; D014197:Trees / Q000737:chemistry* / Q000528:radiation effects; D014867:Water / Q000494:pharmacology; D014934:Wood
D014867:Water; D010100:Oxygen