A Comparison of Water Balance Components of a Spruce and a Beech Canopy Based on Parallel Micrometeorological and Plant Physiological Measurements

We present the investigations of water balances of two neighbouring canopies, a spruce and a beech canopy. The water balances were analyzed on small scale of areas less than 0.5 km during two growing seasons. The investigations are based on a combination of different meteorological (eddy-covariance measurements, EC) and plant physiological measurements (sap flow measurements, SF), as well as on the integration of measurements of soil moisture. The periods of investigation were very different concerning weather conditions. One of the seasons was hot and dry, the other season was cool and rainy. Thus, we are able to compare both canopies under different, however typical, prevailing weather.