Water Potential Gradient in a Tall Sequoiadendron

With an elevator installed in a 90-meter tall Sequoiadendron to collect the samples, xylem pressure potential measurements were made approximately every 15 meters along 60 meters of the tree's height. The measured gradient was about -0.8 bar per 10 meters of height, i.e., less than the hydrostatic gradient. Correction of the xylem pressure potential data by calibration against a thermocouple psychrometer confirmed this result. Similar gradients are described in the literature in tall conifers at times of low transpiration, although a different sampling technique was used. If the data in the present study and those supporting it are typical, they imply a re-evaluation of either the use of the pressure chamber to estimate water potential or the present theories describing water transport in tall trees.