Skip to main content
OSTI.GOVU.S. Department of Energy Office of Scientific and Technical Information
U.S. Department of Energy
Office of Scientific and Technical Information
 

Persistence and Plasticity in Conifer Water–Use Strategies

Journal Article · · Journal of Geophysical Research. Biogeosciences
DOI:https://doi.org/10.1029/2018jg004845· OSTI ID:1826747
 [1];  [2];  [3];  [4];  [5];  [6];  [7];  [8]
  1. Univ. of Illinois, Chicago, IL (United States); University of Illinois at Chicago
  2. Rocky Mountain Biological Lab., Gothic, CO (United States); Oregon State Univ., Corvallis, OR (United States)
  3. Univ. of Illinois, Chicago, IL (United States)
  4. Stanford Univ., CA (United States); Univ. of Massachusetts, Amherst, MA (United States)
  5. United States Geological Survey, Denver, CO (United States)
  6. Desert Research Inst., Reno, NV (United States)
  7. Northern Arizona Univ., Flagstaff, AZ (United States)
  8. Rocky Mountain Biological Lab., Gothic, CO (United States); Lawrence Berkeley National Lab. (LBNL), Berkeley, CA (United States)
+ Show Author Affiliations
The selective use of seasonal precipitation by vegetation is critical to understanding the residence time and flow path of water in watersheds, yet there are limited datasets to test how climate alters these dynamics. Here, we use measurements of the seasonal cycle of tree ring δ18O for two widespread conifer species in the Rocky Mountains of North America to provide a multi-decadal depiction of the seasonal origins of forest water use. The results show that while the conifer tree stands had a dominant preference for use of snowmelt, there were multi-annual periods over the last four decades when use of summer precipitation was preferential. Utilization of summer rain emerged during years with increased snowfall and tree growth, suggesting that summer rain enhanced the transpiration stream only during the periods of highest water use. We hypothesize this could be explained through shallowing of the root profile during wetter periods and/or through the influence of changing water table depths on the residence time of summer precipitation in the root zone. We suggest the tree ring proxy approach used here could be applied in other watersheds to provide critical insight into the temporal dynamics of plant water use that could not be inferred from short measurement campaigns. Furthermore, these data on the seasonal origins of forest water are critical for understanding forest vulnerability to drought, the processes that affect precipitation pathways and residence time in watersheds and the interpretation of tree ring proxy data.
Research Organization:
Univ. of Illinois, Chicago, IL (United States)
Sponsoring Organization:
USDOE Office of Science (SC), Biological and Environmental Research (BER)
Grant/Contract Number:
SC0019210; AC02-05CH11231
OSTI ID:
1826747
Alternate ID(s):
OSTI ID: 1600566
Journal Information:
Journal of Geophysical Research. Biogeosciences, Journal Name: Journal of Geophysical Research. Biogeosciences Journal Issue: 2 Vol. 125; ISSN 2169-8953
Publisher:
American Geophysical UnionCopyright Statement
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English

References (81)

Models of fluorescence and photosynthesis for interpreting measurements of solar‐induced chlorophyll fluorescence journal December 2014
Illuminating hydrological processes at the soil-vegetation-atmosphere interface with water stable isotopes: REVIEW OF WATER STABLE ISOTOPES journal September 2016
Persistence and memory timescales in root-zone soil moisture dynamics: PERSISTENCE IN SOIL MOISTURE journal February 2016
Convergent approaches to determine an ecosystem's transpiration fraction: TRANSPIRATION FRACTION OF TWO FORESTS journal June 2016
Latitudinal gradients in tree ring stable carbon and oxygen isotopes reveal differential climate influences of the North American Monsoon System: Intra-annual Tree Ring C and O Isotopes journal July 2016
Finding the seasons in tree ring stable isotope ratios journal May 2018
Revisiting streamside trees that do not use stream water: can the two water worlds hypothesis and snowpack isotopic effects explain a missing water source? journal August 2016
The two water worlds hypothesis: Addressing multiple working hypotheses and proposing a way forward journal March 2017
Exploring source water mixing and transient residence time distributions of outflow and evapotranspiration with an integrated hydrologic model and Lagrangian particle tracking approach: Source water mixing and transient residence time distributions ET and Q. journal October 2018
Spatial variation in throughfall, soil, and plant water isotopes in a temperate forest journal December 2018
Tritium analysis shows apple trees may be transpiring water several decades old journal January 2017
A faster plant stem-water extraction method journal January 2006
Improved removal of volatile organic compounds for laser-based spectroscopy of water isotopes: Removal of VOCs in water samples for infrared spectroscopy journal February 2016
Performance of induction module cavity ring-down spectroscopy (IM-CRDS) for measuring δ 18 O and δ 2 H values of soil, stem, and leaf waters : Performance of induction module cavity ring-down spectroscopy journal February 2017
Limited uptake of summer precipitation by bigtooth maple (Acer grandidentatum Nutt) and Gambel's oak (Quereus gambelii Nutt) journal April 1995
Seasonal water uptake and movement in root systems of Australian phraeatophytic plants of dimorphic root morphology: a stable isotope investigation journal January 1996
Expressing leaf water and cellulose oxygen isotope ratios as enrichment above source water reveals evidence of a P�clet effect journal February 2004
Linking water uptake with rooting patterns in grassland species journal May 2007
Assessing the interplay between canopy energy balance and photosynthesis with cellulose δ18O: large-scale patterns and independent ground-truthing journal June 2018
The redistribution of soil water by tree root systems journal July 1998
Water use strategies of natural Pinus sylvestris var. Mongolica trees of different ages in Hulunbuir Sandy Land of Inner Mongolia, China, based on stable isotope analysis journal March 2018
Effects of root water uptake formulation on simulated water and energy budgets at local and basin scales journal February 2016
Isotopic composition of cellulose from aquatic organisms journal October 1981
A mechanistic model for interpretation of hydrogen and oxygen isotope ratios in tree-ring cellulose journal January 2000
Modeled and observed intra-ring δ18O cycles within late Holocene Bristlecone Pine tree samples journal June 2009
Signals and memory in tree-ring width and density data journal October 2015
Isotopes in North American Rocky Mountain Snowpack 1993–2014 journal January 2016
Seasonal temperature and precipitation recorded in the intra-annual oxygen isotope pattern of meteoric water and tree-ring cellulose journal October 2015
Identification and dendrochronology of wood found at the Ziegler Reservoir fossil site, Colorado, USA journal November 2014
Consequences of a Rapid Cellulose Extraction Technique for Oxygen Isotope and Radiocarbon Analyses journal March 2008
Toward forward modeling for paleoclimatic proxy signal calibration: A case study with oxygen isotopic composition of tropical woods: FORWARD MODELING FOR SIGNAL CALIBRATION journal July 2007
Groundwater convergence as a possible mechanism for multi-year persistence in rainfall journal January 2007
Mapping forest canopy height globally with spaceborne lidar journal January 2011
Secular temperature trends for the southern Rocky Mountains over the last five centuries: ROCKY MOUNTAIN TEMPERATURE TRENDS journal September 2012
The cause of the seasonal variation in the oxygen isotopic composition of precipitation along the western U.S. coast: ISOTOPE SEASONALITY IN WESTERN U.S. journal September 2012
Simulating Dynamic Roots in the Energy Exascale Earth System Land Model journal January 2019
Spectral biases in tree-ring climate proxies journal February 2013
Is there memory in precipitation? journal February 2013
Interdependence of groundwater dynamics and land-energy feedbacks under climate change journal September 2008
Ecohydrologic separation of water between trees and streams in a Mediterranean climate journal December 2009
Woody biomass production lags stem-girth increase by over one month in coniferous forests journal October 2015
Dramatic declines in snowpack in the western US journal March 2018
Building roots in a changing environment: implications for root longevity: REVIEW Building absorptive roots and root life span journal July 2000
Effects of altered water regimes on forest root systems: RESEARCH Water effects on forest root systems journal July 2000
Temperate forest trees and stands under severe drought: a review of ecophysiological responses, adaptation processes and long-term consequences journal September 2006
Cellulose δ 18 O is an index of leaf-to-air vapor pressure difference (VPD) in tropical plants journal January 2011
Increased water deficit decreases Douglas fir growth throughout western US forests journal August 2016
Hydrologic regulation of plant rooting depth journal September 2017
Direct observations of rock moisture, a hidden component of the hydrologic cycle journal February 2018
A long-term Global LAnd Surface Satellite (GLASS) data-set for environmental studies journal December 2013
Co-occurring species differ in tree-ring  18O trends journal August 2006
Differential summer water use by Pinus edulis and Juniperus osteosperma reflects contrasting hydraulic characteristics journal December 2007
Stable isotopes in tree rings: towards a mechanistic understanding of isotope fractionation and mixing processes from the leaves to the wood journal June 2014
Legacies of precipitation fluctuations on primary production: theory and data synthesis
  • Sala, Osvaldo E.; Gherardi, Laureano A.; Reichmann, Lara
  • Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences, Vol. 367, Issue 1606 https://doi.org/10.1098/rstb.2011.0347
journal November 2012
Drought characteristics' role in widespread aspen forest mortality across Colorado, USA journal March 2013
Differential use of winter precipitation by upper and lower elevation Douglas fir in the Northern Rockies journal October 2018
Longer growing seasons lead to less carbon sequestration by a subalpine forest journal February 2010
Tracing carbon and oxygen isotope signals from newly assimilated sugars in the leaves to the tree-ring archive journal July 2009
A single-substrate model to interpret intra-annual stable isotope signals in tree-ring cellulose journal August 2009
Critical temperatures for xylogenesis in conifers of cold climates journal November 2008
Digging deeper: fine-root responses to rising atmospheric CO2 concentration in forested ecosystems journal December 2009
Seasonal transfer of oxygen isotopes from precipitation and soil to the tree ring: source water versus needle water enrichment journal March 2014
Warming combined with more extreme precipitation regimes modifies the water sources used by trees journal September 2016
Water fluxes mediated by vegetation: emerging isotopic insights at the soil and atmosphere interfaces journal November 2018
Rooting depth, water relations and non-structural carbohydrate dynamics in three woody angiosperms differentially affected by an extreme summer drought: Rooting depth and plant hydraulics journal December 2015
Carbon and oxygen isotope fractionations in tree rings reveal interactions between cambial phenology and seasonal climate: Tree ring isotopes aligned with cambial phenology journal August 2018
Impacts of Fine Root Turnover on Forest NPP and Soil C Sequestration Potential journal November 2003
Oxygen Isotope Ratios in Trees Reflect Mean Annual Temperature and Humidity journal March 1981
Connections between groundwater flow and transpiration partitioning journal July 2016
A 431-Yr Reconstruction of Western Colorado Snowpack from Tree Rings journal May 2003
North American Regional Reanalysis journal March 2006
Potential Reemergence of Seasonal Soil Moisture Anomalies in North America journal May 2019
Interannual Variability of Deep-Layer Hydrologic Memory and Mechanisms of Its Influence on Surface Energy Fluxes journal December 2005
Intra- and Interspecific Variation for Summer Precipitation use in Pinyon–Juniper Woodlands journal November 2000
Effects of Climate Change on Phenology, Frost Damage, and Floral Abundance of Montane Wildflowers journal February 2008
Spatiotemporal Patterns of Water Stable Isotope Compositions at the Shale Hills Critical Zone Observatory: Linkages to Subsurface Hydrologic Processes journal January 2013
Estimation of Terrestrial Global Gross Primary Production (GPP) with Satellite Data-Driven Models and Eddy Covariance Flux Data journal August 2018
Rainfall exclusion in an eastern Amazonian forest alters soil water movement and depth of water uptake journal March 2005
Simulating oxygen isotope ratios in tree ring cellulose using a dynamic global vegetation model journal January 2016
An integrated model of soil-canopy spectral radiances, photosynthesis, fluorescence, temperature and energy balance journal January 2009
Seasonal origins of soil water used by trees journal January 2019

Similar Records

Related Subjects

59 BASIC BIOLOGICAL SCIENCES