Abstract:
The water vapor resistance between forest canopy and atmosphere is an important factor in the study of forest transpiration, which is of great significance to forest management and ecosystem sustainability. However, there are still challenges in accurately quantifying this resistance. In this study, the
Platycladus orientalis plantation in North China was taken as the research object. Based on the soil-plant-atmosphere continuum (SPAC) theory, the canopy water vapor output conductance model was constructed, and the response relationship between conductance and environmental factors was analyzed. The results showed that the diurnal variations of canopy stomatal conductance (
gc), aerodynamic conductance (
ga) and canopy water vapor output conductance (
gs) were basically similar, and
gs was significantly lower than
gc and
ga, indicating that if the water vapor exchange between canopy and atmosphere were only characterized by
gc, which would significantly overestimate
gs and could not accurately reflect the variation of
gs. There were significant positive correlations between
gc,
ga and
gs and PAR, temperature (
T), vapor pressure deficit (VPD) and wind speed (
u), but the responses of
gc,
ga and
gs to environmental factors were different. The effects of
T, VPD and
u on
gs did not show a significant threshold effect, while PAR had a strong effect on
gs within the threshold range. After exceeding this threshold, the sensitivity of
gs to PAR decreased significantly. These results provide a new perspective and technical reference for understanding the mechanism of forest canopy water output and its environmental driving factors.