Increased photosynthesis offsets costs of allocation to sapwood in an arid environment
Journal Article
·
· Ecology
- Univ. of Illinois, Urbana, IL (United States). Dept. of Plant Biology
- Univ. of Montana, Missoula, MT (United States). Div. of Biological Sciences
The authors assessed the effect that varying patterns of biomass allocation had on growth of ponderosa pine (Pinus ponderosa) growing in the desert climate of the Great Basin and the montane climate of the eastern Sierra Nevada. Prior work established that desert trees have lower leaf:sapwood area ratios than montane trees and proportionally greater stem respiration. Sapwood:leaf mass ratios are also greater and increase more as a function stem diameter in desert than in montane trees. The authors hypothesized that this increased allocation of carbon to stem sapwood and stem respiration in large trees could decrease growth rates in the desert compared to the montane environment, in addition to any growth reduction imposed by drought on physiology and growth processes. Trees of all diameters (dbh) in the desert environment had lower relative growth rates (RGRs) than montane trees. However, growth rates of desert and montane trees declined similarly with increasing dbh and did not reflect diverging sapwood:leaf mass ratios. Alternatively, the authors hypothesized that desert trees may increase rates of photosynthetic carbon accumulation with diameter, thereby compensating for increased sapwood respiration. Leaf nitrogen (N) concentration and stable-carbon isotope composition ({delta}{sup 13}C) were measured to examine size-dependent and seasonally integrated photosynthetic capacity within desert and montane environments. Nitrogen concentration was correlated with photosynthetic capacity.
- Sponsoring Organization:
- USDOE
- OSTI ID:
- 290197
- Journal Information:
- Ecology, Journal Name: Ecology Journal Issue: 7 Vol. 79; ISSN 0012-9658; ISSN ECOLAR
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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