Development of a simple thermal method for measuring sap flow in plants for space experiments

抄録

Sap flow is an important indicator of transpiration and plant growth. The objectives of this study were to develop a simple method to measure sap flow in stems or petioles of herbaceous plants and monitoring sap flow under low gravity in space. We created an index of sap flow (ISF) based on the petiole surface temperature distribution around a tiny heated point in a simulated plant and sweetpotato plants. In results, the ISF was related linearly (r=0.90) with the sap flow rate actually measured in sweetpotato petioles and usefulness and convenience of this method were confirmed easily monitoring sap flow.