Nutrient availability constrains the hydraulic architecture and water relations of savannah trees.
Sandra Janet Bucci,Fabian Gustavo Scholz,Guillermo Goldstein,Guillermo Goldstein,Frederick C. Meinzer,Augusto C. Franco,Paula I. Campanello,Randol Villalobos-Vega,Mercedes M. C. Bustamante,Fernando Miralles-Wilhelm +9 more
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Despite being adapted to chronic nutrient limitations, Cerrado woody species apparently have the capacity to exploit increases in nutrient availability by allocating resources to maximize carbon gain and enhance growth.Abstract:
Leaf and whole plant-level functional traits were studied in five dominant woody savannah species from Central Brazil (Cerrado) to determine whether reduction of nutrient limitations in oligotrophic Cerrado soils affects carbon allocation, water relations and hydraulic architecture. Four treatments were used: control, N additions, P additions and N plus P additions. Fertilizers were applied twice yearly, from October 1998 to March 2004. Sixty-three months after the first nutrient addition, the total leaf area increment was significantly greater across all species in the N- and the N + P-fertilized plots than in the control and in the P- fertilized plots. Nitrogen fertilization significantly altered several components of hydraulic architecture: specific conductivity of terminal stems increased with N addi- tions, whereas leaf-specific conductivity and wood density decreased in most cases. Average daily sap flow per individ- ual was consistently higher with N and N + P additions compared to the control, but its relative increase was not as great as that of leaf area. Long-term additions of N and N + P caused midday Y L to decline significantly by a mean of 0.6 MPa across all species because N-induced relative reductions in soil-to-leaf hydraulic conductance were greater than those of stomatal conductance and tran- spiration on a leaf area basis. Phosphorus-fertilized trees did not exhibit significant changes in midday Y L. Analysis of xylem vulnerability curves indicated that N-fertilized trees were significantly less vulnerable to embolism than trees in control and P-fertilized plots. Thus, N-induced decreases in midday Y L appeared to be almost entirely compensated by increases in resistance to embolism. Leaf tissue water relations characteristics also changed as a result of N-induced declines in minimum Y L : osmotic potential at full turgor decreased and symplastic solute con- tent on a dry matter basis increased linearly with declining midday Y L across species and treatments. Despite being adapted to chronic nutrient limitations, Cerrado woody species apparently have the capacity to exploit increases in nutrient availability by allocating resources to maximize carbon gain and enhance growth. The cost of increased allocation to leaf area relative to water transport capacity involved increased total water loss per plant and a decrease in minimum leaf water potentials. However, the risk of increased embolism and turgor loss was relatively low as xylem vulnerability to embolism and leaf osmotic charac- teristics changed in parallel with changes in plant water status induced by N fertilization.read more
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Global assessment of nitrogen deposition effects on terrestrial plant diversity: a synthesis.
Roland Bobbink,Kevin Hicks,James N. Galloway,Till Spranger,Rob Alkemade,Mike Ashmore,Mercedes M. C. Bustamante,Steve Cinderby,Eric A. Davidson,Frank Dentener,Bridget A. Emmett,Jan Willem Erisman,Mark E. Fenn,Frank S. Gilliam,Annika Nordin,Linda H. Pardo,W. de Vries +16 more
TL;DR: Ecosystems thought of as not N limited, such as tropical and subtropical systems, may be more vulnerable in the regeneration phase, in situations where heterogeneity in N availability is reduced by atmospheric N deposition, on sandy soils, or in montane areas.
Journal ArticleDOI
The correlations and sequence of plant stomatal, hydraulic, and wilting responses to drought
TL;DR: The correlations among the drought tolerance traits across species provide a framework for predicting plant responses to a wide range of water stress from one or two sampled traits, increasing the ability to rapidly characterize drought tolerance across diverse species.
Journal ArticleDOI
Diversity in plant hydraulic traits explains seasonal and inter-annual variations of vegetation dynamics in seasonally dry tropical forests
TL;DR: Compared with the original ED2, predictions from the novel trait-driven model matched better with observed growth, phenology and their variations among functional groups, and was better able to simulate spatial patterns of LAI dynamics in Central America.
Journal ArticleDOI
Nutritional adaptations of native plants of the cerrado biome in acid soils
TL;DR: Many common species of the cerrado, instead of excluding aluminum, absorb and transport it to leaves and accumulate it in different tissues including leaves and seeds whereas others do not survive in the absence of exchangeable aluminum, even though no specific role of Al in plant metabolism is yet established.
Leaf Functional Traits of Neotropical Savanna Trees in Relation to Seasonal Water Deficit - eScholarship
A.C Franco,Mercedes M. C. Bustamante,Caldas L. S,Goldstein G,Meinzer F. C,Kozovits A. R,Philip W. Rundel,Coradin V.T.R. +7 more
TL;DR: Their short leafless period and the capacity to flush by the end of the dry season may also contribute to offset the longer payback period of evergreen species, although it may involve the higher cost of maintaining a deep-root system or a tight control of plant water balance in the shallow-rooted ones.
References
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Journal ArticleDOI
N : P ratios in terrestrial plants: variation and functional significance
TL;DR: This review examines how variation in the relative availability of N and P, as reflected by N : P ratios of plant biomass, influences vegetation composition and functioning.
Journal ArticleDOI
Evaluation of transpiration in a Douglas-fir stand by means of sap flow measurements
TL;DR: Sap flow measurements of a Douglas-fir stand gave transpiration values similar to those obtained by the water balance method, which fell below potential evapotranspiration when available soil water decreased below 30% of its maximum value.
Journal ArticleDOI
Vulnerability of Xylem to Cavitation and Embolism
Melvin T. Tyree,John S. Sperry +1 more
TL;DR: Embolism Formation by Winter Freezing, Water Stress-Induced Embolism, and more.
Journal ArticleDOI
The hydraulic architecture of trees and other woody plants
Melvin T. Tyree,Frank W. Ewers +1 more
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors reviewed how the hydraulic design of trees influences the movement of water from roots to leaves and discussed some of the ecological and physiological trade-offs of specific structures.
Journal ArticleDOI
Trends in wood density and structure are linked to prevention of xylem implosion by negative pressure
TL;DR: The more drought-tolerant the plant, the more negative the xylem pressure can become without cavitation, and the greater the internal load on thexylem conduit walls, and Dt was correlated with cavitation resistance.
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