Ruth-Kristina Magh

Friedrich Schiller University Jena | FSU · Department of Geosciences

Using water-stable isotopes to track plant water uptake or soil water processes has become an invaluable tool in ecohydrology and physiological ecology. Recent studies have shown that laser absorption spectroscopy can measure equilibrated water vapour well enough to support inference of liquid-stable isotope composition of plant or soil water, on-s...

Using water stable isotopes to track plant water uptake or soil water processes has become an invaluable tool in ecohydrology and physiological ecology. Recent studies have shown that laser absorption spectroscopy can measure equilibrated water vapour well enough to support inference of liquid stable isotope composition of plant or soil water, on-s...

Mixed forests have been recommended to replace monocultures, often being more productive and resilient ecosystems. Those benefits of species mixing have been suggested to be attributed to lower competition (above- and belowground) due to potential separation of resource acquisition strategies, yet a mechanistic understanding of belowground processe...

Understanding how plant water uptake interacts with acquisition of soil nitrogen (N) and other nutrients is fundamental for predicting plant responses to a changing environment, but it is an area where models disagree. We present a novel isotopic labelling approach which reveals spatial patterns of water and N uptake, and their interaction, by tree...

Supplementary Material of De Deurwaerder et al, 2020

Stable isotopologues of water are widely used to derive relative root water uptake (RWU) profiles and average RWU depth in lignified plants. Uniform isotope composition of plant xylem water (δ xyl) along the stem length of woody plants is a central assumption of the isotope tracing approach which has never been properly evaluated. Here we evaluate...

Beech (Fagus sylvatica) and silver fir (Abies alba) are often cultivated in mixed stands and, hence, compete for water and nutrients. Besides nitrogen (N), also phosphorus (P) is an important nutrient for growth and development. Beech trees in Central Europe grow on both P-poor and P-rich soils, thereby showing similar growth and low variation in f...

The anticipated climate change during the next decades is posing crucial challenges to ecosystems. In order to decrease the vulnerability of forests, introducing tree species' mixtures are a viable strategy, with deep-rooting native Silver fir (Abies alba) being a primary candidate for admixture into current pure stands of European beech (Fagus syl...

In the present study we investigated water use strategies of mature stands of Fagus sylvatica (European Beech) with and without co-cultivation of Abies alba (Silver fir) during a summer drought and subsequent rewetting through simulated heavy precipitation in a temperate forest in south-west Germany. We used a combination of sap flow analysis, wate...

Emissions of volatile organic compounds (VOCs) by biogenic sources depend on different environmental conditions. Besides temperature and photosynthetic active radiation (PAR), the available soil water can be a major factor controlling the emission flux. This factor is expected to become more important under future climate conditions, including prol...

Research Highlights: Investigations of evapotranspiration in a mature mixed beech-fir forest stand do not indicate higher resilience towards intensified drying-wetting cycles as compared with pure beech stands. Background and Objectives: Forest management seeks to implement adaptive measures, for example, the introduction of more drought resistant...

Emissions of volatile organic compounds (VOCs) by biogenic sources depend on different environmental conditions. Besides temperature and photosynthetic active radiation (PAR), the available soil water can be a major factor, controlling the emission flux. This factor is expected to become more important under future climate conditions including prol...

Research highlights: The admixture of fir to pure European beech hardly affected soil-atmosphere CH4 and N2O fluxes but increased soil organic carbon (SOC) stocks at a site in the Black Forest, Southern Germany. Background and objectives: Admixing deep-rooting silver fir has been proposed as a measure to increase the resilience of beech forests tow...

Research highlights: Interaction effects of coniferous on deciduous species have been investigated before the background of climate change. Background and objectives: The cultivation of European beech (Fagus sylvatica L.) in mixed stands has currently received attention, since the future performance of beech in mid-European forest monocultures in a...

Key message: Water relations in the leaves of beech trees on sandstone-derived soil are supported by the presence of white fir neighbors.Abstract: Climate extremes such as heat waves and prolonged periods of drought not only affect water relations of trees, but can also accelerate nitrogen (N) limitation under low soil N. To counteract these effect...