Response of effluent-irrigated Eucalyptus grandis and Pinus radiata to salinity and vapor pressure deficits.

Abstract

Effects of high vapor pressure deficit (VPD) and soil salinity on growth and physiology of Pinus radiata D. Don and Eucalyptus grandis Hill ex Maiden were studied in a five-year-old plantation irrigated with salt-enhanced effluent (2.2 dS m(-1)) or freshwater (0.2 dS m(-1)) for 14 weeks during spring and summer. Salt was then rapidly leached by over-irrigation with low-salinity effluent. Soil water and salinity, tree water stress, sap flux, substrate carbon conversion efficiency, foliage and stem growth, and foliar cations and chloride were monitored throughout the study. An average of 9 and 1 Mg ha(-1) of salt with an average hydraulic load of 660 and 780 mm was applied to the salt and cont..