title: Transpiration of urban trees and its cooling effect in a high latitude city.
abstract: An important ecosystem service provided by urban trees is the cooling effect caused by their transpiration. The aim of this study was to quantify the magnitude of daytime and night-time transpiration of common urban tree species in a high latitude city (Gothenburg, Sweden), to analyse the influence of weather conditions and surface permeability on the tree transpiration, and to find out whether tree transpiration contributed to daytime or nocturnal cooling. Stomatal conductance and leaf transpiration at day and night were measured on mature street and park trees of seven common tree species in Gothenburg: Tilia europaea, Quercus robur, Betula pendula, Acer platanoides, Aesculus hippocastanum, Fagus sylvatica and Prunus serrulata. Transpiration increased with vapour pressure deficit and photosynthetically active radiation. Midday rates of sunlit leaves ranged from less than 1 mmol m(-2) s(-1) (B. pendula) to over 3 mmol m(-2) s(-1) (Q. robur). Daytime stomatal conductance was positively related to the fraction of permeable surfaces within the vertically projected crown area. A simple estimate of available rainwater, comprising of precipitation sum and fractional surface permeability within the crown area, was found to explain 68% of variation in midday stomatal conductance. Night-time transpiration was observed in all studied species and amounted to 7 and 20% of midday transpiration of sunlit and shaded leaves, respectively. With an estimated night-time latent heat flux of 24 W m(-2), tree transpiration significantly increased the cooling rate around and shortly after sunset, but not later in the night. Despite a strong midday latent heat flux of 206 W m(-2), a cooling effect of tree transpiration was not observed during the day.
authors.affiliation: Department of Earth Sciences, University of Gothenburg, Box 460, 405 30, Gothenburg, Sweden. janina.konarska@gvc.gu.se.
authors.forename: Janina
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Konarska
authors.affiliation: Department of Biological and Environmental Sciences, University of Gothenburg, Box 461, 405 30, Gothenburg, Sweden.
authors.forename: Johan
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Uddling
authors.affiliation: Department of Earth Sciences, University of Gothenburg, Box 460, 405 30, Gothenburg, Sweden.
authors.forename: Björn
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Holmer
authors.affiliation: Department of Biological and Environmental Sciences, University of Gothenburg, Box 461, 405 30, Gothenburg, Sweden.
authors.forename: Martina
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Lutz
authors.affiliation: Department of Earth Sciences, University of Gothenburg, Box 460, 405 30, Gothenburg, Sweden.
authors.forename: Fredrik
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Lindberg
authors.affiliation: Department of Biological and Environmental Sciences, University of Gothenburg, Box 461, 405 30, Gothenburg, Sweden.
authors.forename: Håkan
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Pleijel
authors.affiliation: Department of Earth Sciences, University of Gothenburg, Box 460, 405 30, Gothenburg, Sweden.
authors.forename: Sofia
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Thorsson
mesh_terms: D002940:Circadian Rhythm; D002947:Cities; D018515:Plant Leaves / Q000502:physiology*; D018526:Plant Transpiration; D013548:Sweden; D013696:Temperature; D014197:Trees / Q000502:physiology*; D055548:Vapor Pressure; D014867:Water
chemical_list: D014867:Water