what type of wood do you think transport more water per unit area, pine or oak. why?

Answer 1

I suppose this isn't the best answer, however... I would think oak. I hear it is "hardier"... meaning the wood is stronger... meaning there is more cellulose. I can imagine that a stronger trunk would allow for closer knit fibers to increase the pulling motion of water against gravity.

And coniferous trees are often without water for longer than deciduous, per their usual areas of biomes as such.

Also, while pine leaves have more surface area on the needles relative to what's inside the "leaves" (needles), they are partly designed that way to hold in moisture, meaning less is lost, because they are usually in a drier environment. Oak leaves, by contrast, have small openings on the underside of the leaves that open at night and close in the daytime as part of their energy cycle. They close in the daytime in part to minimize water loss, but it still occurs (and I have little doubt that it does occur more so than in pine).

Answer 2

The tree with the most leaf surface area would transport the most water. If you assume that both species were growing as thickly as possible in one acre. I would guess the pine trees would transport the most. I don't know any method to prove it one way or another, so I decide that I would look down from above a each plot and the one that covered the area thickest was the winner. I do not know what effect the darkness of the leaves in oak would have on transportation.

Answer 3

In my opinion, pine. Pine total leaf area larger than the oak. So, there is much more area to transpiration ( leaves lost water and roots suck the water).