%0 Journal Article %A GUO Bao-ni1 %A ZHANG Jian-jun1 %A 2** %A WANG Zhen3 %A RU Hao1 %A HUANG Ming1 %T Characteristics of water consumption by Robinia pseudoacacia forest on Loess Plateau of western Shanxi Province, China. %D 2012 %R %J Chinese Journal of Ecology %P 2736-2741 %V 31 %N 11 %X By using thermal dissipation probe (TDP) technique, a field observation was conducted on the stem sap flow of Robinia pseudoacacia forest on Loess Plateau of western Shanxi Province in the growth season (April-October), 2011. Combining with the synchronically observed meteorological factors and by using corresponding empirical formula, the transpiration water consumption and atmospheric evaporation capacity of the forest were calculated, and the correlations of the stem sap flow velocity and atmospheric evaporation capacity were studied. In May and August, the stem sap flow velocity and atmospheric evaporation capacity of the forest had the similar diurnal variation patterns in sunny and rainy days, being obviously smaller at night than at daytime, but not obvious in cloudy days. In the growth season of R. pseudoacacia, the correlation between the sap flow velocity and atmospheric evaporation capacity was significant in June, July, and August, but insignificant in other months, presenting a symmetrical distribution. The mean monthly transpiration water consumption had a symmetrical distribution during the growth season, with the minimum in April and the maximum in July. The atmospheric evaporation capacity was the minimum in October and the maximum in June, and the potential maximum atmospheric evaporation capacity during the growth season was 4.45 times of that of the measured forest transpiration water consumption.   %U http://www.cje.net.cn/EN/abstract/article_20489.shtml