title: The watering of tall trees--embolization and recovery.
abstract: We can propound a thermo-mechanical understanding of the ascent of sap to the top of tall trees thanks to a comparison between experiments associated with the cohesion-tension theory and the disjoining pressure concept for liquid thin-films. When a segment of xylem is tight-filled with crude sap, the liquid pressure can be negative although the pressure in embolized vessels remains positive. Examples are given that illustrate how embolized vessels can be refilled and why the ascent of sap is possible even in the tallest trees avoiding the problem due to cavitation. However, the maximum height of trees is limited by the stability domain of liquid thin-films.
authors.affiliation: Aix-Marseille Université, CNRS, Centrale Marseille, M2P2 UMR 7340, 13451 Marseille, France. Electronic address: henri.gouin@univ-amu.fr.
authors.forename: Henri
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Gouin
mesh_terms: D000388:Air; D009038:Motion; D011312:Pressure; D013227:Steam; D013816:Thermodynamics; D014197:Trees / Q000033:anatomy & histology* / Q000502:physiology*; D014867:Water
chemical_list: D013227:Steam; D014867:Water
keywords: Cohesion-tension theory; Disjoining pressure; High trees; Sap ascent; Tree recovery