Evapotranspiration of herbaceous mimosa (Mimosa strigillosa), a new drought-resistant species in the southeastern United States

摘要

Herbaceous mimosa (Mimosa strigillosa Torr and Gray) is a new reclamation species currently under a series of assembly and evaluation programs by the Natural Resources Conservation Service's Plant Materials Center and Stephen F. Austin State University at Nacogdoches, Texas. Two floating lysimeters were designed and installed at the Stephen F. Austin Experimental Forest, about 20 km south of Nacogdoches, Texas to study differences in evapotranspiration (ET) between the mimosa and bare ground in July–October 1993. Pan coefficients during the study period ranged from 0.40 to 0.58, and no irrigation was applied to the lysimeters in the study. Water losses to the air in area covered by herbaceous mimosa were compatible with other turfgrasses under optimum soil moisture conditions. However, under environmental stress, average daily ET for the mimosa in four summer months was 1.6 mm/day, a value only 0.4 mm/day greater than bare ground. These results agree with a previous study that the plant is a water conservation species capable of tolerating severe drought conditions.