Field experiment on transpiration from isolated urban plants

The effect of pot plant density on plant transpiration rate was examined in a series of field experiments. Three spatial densities were crated using 203 nearly homogeneous pot plants; the ratios of plant separation to plant height were 0.25, 0.5, and 3 for the 'high,' 'medium,' and 'low' groups respectively. The daily transpiration rate of 55 pot plants was measured for 28 days. During that period, the plants were randomly rotated each day to statistically eliminate individual characteristics and to successfully ascertain the effect of plant spatial density on the transpiration rate. As a best-case scenario, the soil for each plant was saturated at the start of each experiment. The results showed that the transpiration rate of potted plants in the 'low' group was about 1.5 times greater than that of the 'high' group. On the basis of the transpiration rate per unit of vegetation area projected on a horizontal plain, which is a general index used in meteorological modeling, the plants in the 'low' group evaporated 2.7 times as much water as those in the centre of the 'high' group. These results indicate the need for modified models that can consider the relative increase in evapotranspiration from vegetation in small-size plants or low spatial density of vegetation to estimate latent heat flux in urban areas.