Transpiration is the loss of water in vapor form from a plant. This is essentially the same process as evaporation except that it is modified by plant structure. Large quantities of water are removed from the soil, transferred through the conducting tissues of the plant, and dissipated into the air each day. As soon as the water is lost to the atmosphere, it becomes unavailable for human use.
Few people are aware of the actual magnitude of this process. Over 95 percent of the water absorbed by the plant is lost through transpiration, the other 5 percent being used in photosynthesis and as a plant constituent. Herbaceous plants may transpire several times their own volume of water in a single day. Many forests lose over 20 inches of water in a year. Such large quantities, when dissipated in vapor form, are sufficient to modify the climate in the surrounding area.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:UTAHS/oai:digitalcommons.usu.edu:etd-3775 |
| Date | 01 May 1962 |
| Creators | Tew, Ronald Kay |
| Publisher | DigitalCommons@USU |
| Source Sets | Utah State University |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | text |
| Format | application/pdf |
| Source | All Graduate Theses and Dissertations |
| Rights | Copyright for this work is held by the author. Transmission or reproduction of materials protected by copyright beyond that allowed by fair use requires the written permission of the copyright owners. Works not in the public domain cannot be commercially exploited without permission of the copyright owner. Responsibility for any use rests exclusively with the user. For more information contact Andrew Wesolek (andrew.wesolek@usu.edu). |
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