Phyto-IT News

Phyto-IT at the 8th International Workshop on Sap Flow.

Sun, 8 May 2011 15:12:00 GMT

Phyto-IT was present at the 8th International Workshop on Sap Flow in Volterra, Italy. At the booth of ICT International a demo video of Sap Flow Tool was shown throughout the conference.

Article on Phyto-IT in 'Ondernemers Oost-Vlaanderen'.

Mon, 4 Apr 2011 15:12:00 GMT

A short article about Phyto-IT appeared in the April issue of 'Ondernemers Oost-Vlaanderen', a monthly magazine about the East-Flanders business world. Read the article here (in Dutch).

PhytoSim v1.1 released

Wed, 30 Mar 2011 15:10:00 GMT

Version 1.1 of PhytoSim ("Plant Modelling Made Easy") has been released.

Key new features:

Mac OS X version.
Database input support.
Handle date and time in inputs.
Automatically update inputs when new data becomes available.
Only read parts of inputs.
previous() function that allows you to get the value of any model component at the previous independent variable value.
Continuous simulations (simulations which continue when new input data arrives).
Upper and lower bounds for derived variables.

Phyto-IT Demo Afternoon

Fri, 4 Mar 2011 15:06:00 GMT

Join the Phyto-IT Demo Afternoon at the UGent Faculty of Bioscience Engineering. Invitation and registration can be found here.

PhytoSim v1.0 has been released

Fri, 3 Dec 2010 09:50:00 GMT

Version 1.0 of PhytoSim ("Plant Modelling Made Easy") has been released. A free 30-day trial is available here.

Phyto-IT co-authors a paper comparing several sap flow sensors

Fri, 3 Dec 2010 09:30:00 GMT

A paper about the comparison of several sap flow sensors, co-authored by Dirk De Pauw (Phyto-IT), was published in Agriculture and Forest Meteorology. A laboratory test and field evaluation were conducted to determine the accuracy of the three commonly used techniques for measuring sap flux density in trees: heat pulse velocity, thermal dissipation and heat field deformation. In the laboratory test a constant flow rate of water was maintained through freshly cut stem segments of diffuse-porous Fagus grandifolia trees. The three sensor types were measured simultaneously and compared against gravimetric measurements. All three techniques substantially underestimated sap flux density. It is concluded that a species-specific calibration is necessary when using any of these techniques to insure that accurate estimates of sap flux density are obtained, at least until a physical basis for an error correction can be proposed.

Full reference details:
Steppe K., De Pauw D.J.W., Doody T.M. and Teskey R.O. (2010). A comparison of sap flux density using thermal dissipation, heat pulse velocity and heat field deformation methods. Agricultural and Forest Meteorology, 150(7-8), 1046-1056. (http://dx.doi.org/doi:10.1016/j.agrformet.2010.04.004)

Phyto-IT co-authors a paper on hydraulic redistribution

Mon, 11 Nov 2009 12:01:00 GMT

A paper dealing with hydraulic redistribution in trees, co-authored by Dirk De Pauw (Phyto-IT), was published in New Phytologist. During a dry period, a 53-year-old Douglas-fir tree was subjected to localized irrigation on one side of the tree. This created heterogeneous soil water conditions which resulted in a stem-mediated hydraulic redistribution of the water to the other (non-irrigated) side of the tree. In addition, bidirectional flow in the dry root was also observed. This illustrates that water can simultaneously flow in opposite directions in the same part of a tree.

Full reference details:
Nadezhdina N., Steppe K., De Pauw D.J.W., Bequet R., Cermak J. and Ceulemans R. (2009). Stem-mediated hydraulic redistribution in large roots on opposing sides of a Douglas-fir tree following localized irrigation. New Phytologist, 184(8), 932-943. (http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/j.1469-8137.2009.03024.x)

Phyto-IT co-authors a paper on Sap Flow Tool

Mon, 11 Nov 2009 12:00:00 GMT

A paper on the use of Phyto-IT's Sap Flow Tool, co-authored by Dirk De Pauw (Phyto-IT), has been published. This work was presented at the 7th International Workshop on Sap Flow which which was held in Seville, Spain from October 21th-24th 2008. The paper deals with the measurement, calculation and analysis of radial sap flow profiles.

Full reference details:
Steppe K., De Pauw D.J.W., Saveyn A., Tahon P., Nadezhdina N., Cermak J. and Lemeur R. (2009). Radial Sap Flux Profiles and Beyond: an Easy Software Analysis Tool. Acta Horticulturae, 846, 85-92.(http://www.actahort.org/books/846/846_7.htm)