On average, trees from both natural forests
had roots less vulnerable to cavitation and had larger RAI/LAI compared
to the planted trees, which explained their initial lower sensitivity
of transpiration to soil drying and allowed them to extract a
higher proportion of water as soil dried. When soil was drier,
below 0.2 REW, soil resistance became a larger component of resistance,
and the cavitation-induced decrease in root conductivity
had a smaller impact on whole tree resistance and transpiration
at all sites.