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Title: Interannual variations in needle and sapwood traits of Pinus edulis branches under an experimental drought

Journal Article · · Ecology and Evolution
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1002/ece3.3743 · OSTI ID:1416234
ORCiD logo [1];  [2]; ORCiD logo [3];  [4];  [5];  [6];  [7]; ORCiD logo [8];  [9];  [10]
  1. Department of Earth and Environmental Engineering Columbia University New York NY USA
  2. Forest Ecology Department of Environmental Sciences Swiss Federal Institute of Technology ETH Zurich Zürich Switzerland, Forest Research Center (INIA‐CIFOR) Madrid Spain, Tree‐ring Laboratory Lamont‐Doherty Earth Observatory of Columbia University Palisades NY USA
  3. Swiss Federal Institute for Forest, Snow and Landscape Research WSL Birmensdorf Switzerland, Climatic Change and Climate Impacts Institute for Environmental Sciences Geneva Switzerland
  4. Tree‐ring Laboratory Lamont‐Doherty Earth Observatory of Columbia University Palisades NY USA
  5. Department of Earth and Environmental Sciences Lamont‐Doherty Earth Observatory of Columbia University Palisades NY USA
  6. Ecole Polytechnique Palaiseau France
  7. Atmospheric Sciences and Global Change Division Pacific Northwest National Laboratory Richland WA USA
  8. Ecoinformatics &, Biodiversity Department of Bioscience Aarhus University Aarhus Denmark
  9. Department of Biology University of New Mexico Albuquerque NM USA
  10. Department of Earth and Environmental Engineering Earth Institute Columbia University New York NY USA

Abstract In the southwestern USA , recent large‐scale die‐offs of conifers raise the question of their resilience and mortality under droughts. To date, little is known about the interannual structural response to droughts. We hypothesized that piñon pines ( Pinus edulis ) respond to drought by reducing the drop of leaf water potential in branches from year to year through needle morphological adjustments. We tested our hypothesis using a 7‐year experiment in central New Mexico with three watering treatments (irrigated, normal, and rain exclusion). We analyzed how variation in “evaporative structure” (needle length, stomatal diameter, stomatal density, stomatal conductance) responded to watering treatment and interannual climate variability. We further analyzed annual functional adjustments by comparing yearly addition of needle area ( LA ) with yearly addition of sapwood area ( SA ) and distance to tip ( d ), defining the yearly ratios SA : LA and SA : LA / d . Needle length ( l ) increased with increasing winter and monsoon water supply, and showed more interannual variability when the soil was drier. Stomatal density increased with dryness, while stomatal diameter was reduced. As a result, anatomical maximal stomatal conductance was relatively invariant across treatments. SA : LA and SA : LA / d showed significant differences across treatments and contrary to our expectation were lower with reduced water input. Within average precipitation ranges, the response of these ratios to soil moisture was similar across treatments. However, when extreme soil drought was combined with high VPD , needle length, SA : LA and SA : LA / d became highly nonlinear, emphasizing the existence of a response threshold of combined high VPD and dry soil conditions. In new branch tissues, the response of annual functional ratios to water stress was immediate (same year) and does not attempt to reduce the drop of water potential. We suggest that unfavorable evaporative structural response to drought is compensated by dynamic stomatal control to maximize photosynthesis rates.

Sponsoring Organization:
USDOE
OSTI ID:
1416234
Journal Information:
Ecology and Evolution, Journal Name: Ecology and Evolution Journal Issue: 3 Vol. 8; ISSN 2045-7758
Publisher:
Wiley Blackwell (John Wiley & Sons)Copyright Statement
Country of Publication:
United Kingdom
Language:
English

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