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Title: A heuristic classification of woody plants based on contrasting shade and drought strategies

Abstract

Woody plants vary in their adaptations to drought and shade. For a better prediction of vegetation responses to drought and shade within dynamic global vegetation models, it is critical to group species into functional types with similar adaptations. One of the key challenges is that the adaptations are generally determined by a large number of plant traits that may not be available for a large number of species. In this study, we present two heuristic woody plant groups that were separated using cluster analysis in a three-dimensional trait–environment space based on three key metrics for each species: mean xylem embolism resistance, shade tolerance and habitat aridity. The two heuristic groups separate these species into tolerators and avoiders. Furthermore, the tolerators either rely on their high embolism resistance to tolerate drought in arid habitats (e.g., Juniperus and Prunus) or rely on high shade tolerance to withstand shaded conditions in wet habitats (e.g., Picea, Abies and Acer). In contrast, all avoiders have low embolism resistance and low shade tolerance. In arid habitats, avoiders tend to minimize catastrophic embolism (e.g., most Pinus species) while in wet habitats, they may survive despite low shade tolerance (e.g., Betula, Populus, Alnus and Salix). Because our approachmore » links traits to the environmental conditions, we expect it could be a promising framework for predicting changes in species composition, and therefore ecosystem function, under changing environmental conditions.« less

Authors:
ORCiD logo [1]; ORCiD logo [1];  [2];  [3];  [4];  [5]; ORCiD logo [1];  [6];  [7]
  1. Los Alamos National Lab. (LANL), Los Alamos, NM (United States)
  2. Ulm Univ., Ulm (Germany)
  3. Univ. of Idaho, Moscow, ID (United States)
  4. Univ. of Texas Rio Grande Valley, Edinburg, TX (United States)
  5. Univ. of New Mexico, Albuquerque, NM (United States)
  6. Swedish Univ. of Agricultural Sciences, Umea (Sweden)
  7. Pacific Northwest National Lab. (PNNL), Richland, WA (United States)
Publication Date:
Research Org.:
Los Alamos National Lab. (LANL), Los Alamos, NM (United States); Pacific Northwest National Lab. (PNNL), Richland, WA (United States)
Sponsoring Org.:
USDOE Office of Science (SC); USDOE Laboratory Directed Research and Development (LDRD) Program
OSTI Identifier:
1495169
Alternate Identifier(s):
OSTI ID: 1608788
Report Number(s):
LA-UR-18-31360; PNNL-SA-147538
Journal ID: ISSN 1758-4469
Grant/Contract Number:  
89233218CNA000001; AC05-76RL01830
Resource Type:
Accepted Manuscript
Journal Name:
Tree Physiology (Online)
Additional Journal Information:
Journal Name: Tree Physiology (Online); Journal Volume: 39; Journal Issue: 5; Journal ID: ISSN 1758-4469
Publisher:
Oxford University Press
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English
Subject:
59 BASIC BIOLOGICAL SCIENCES; earth sciences; embolism resistance; drought responses; plant functional traits; shade tolerance

Citation Formats

Wei, Liang, Xu, Chonggang, Jansen, Steven, Zhou, Hang, Christoffersen, Bradley O'Donnell, Pockman, William T., Middleton, Richard Stephen, Marshall, John D., and McDowell, Nate G. A heuristic classification of woody plants based on contrasting shade and drought strategies. United States: N. p., 2019. Web. doi:10.1093/treephys/tpy146.
Wei, Liang, Xu, Chonggang, Jansen, Steven, Zhou, Hang, Christoffersen, Bradley O'Donnell, Pockman, William T., Middleton, Richard Stephen, Marshall, John D., & McDowell, Nate G. A heuristic classification of woody plants based on contrasting shade and drought strategies. United States. https://doi.org/10.1093/treephys/tpy146
Wei, Liang, Xu, Chonggang, Jansen, Steven, Zhou, Hang, Christoffersen, Bradley O'Donnell, Pockman, William T., Middleton, Richard Stephen, Marshall, John D., and McDowell, Nate G. Thu . "A heuristic classification of woody plants based on contrasting shade and drought strategies". United States. https://doi.org/10.1093/treephys/tpy146. https://www.osti.gov/servlets/purl/1495169.
@article{osti_1495169,
title = {A heuristic classification of woody plants based on contrasting shade and drought strategies},
author = {Wei, Liang and Xu, Chonggang and Jansen, Steven and Zhou, Hang and Christoffersen, Bradley O'Donnell and Pockman, William T. and Middleton, Richard Stephen and Marshall, John D. and McDowell, Nate G.},
abstractNote = {Woody plants vary in their adaptations to drought and shade. For a better prediction of vegetation responses to drought and shade within dynamic global vegetation models, it is critical to group species into functional types with similar adaptations. One of the key challenges is that the adaptations are generally determined by a large number of plant traits that may not be available for a large number of species. In this study, we present two heuristic woody plant groups that were separated using cluster analysis in a three-dimensional trait–environment space based on three key metrics for each species: mean xylem embolism resistance, shade tolerance and habitat aridity. The two heuristic groups separate these species into tolerators and avoiders. Furthermore, the tolerators either rely on their high embolism resistance to tolerate drought in arid habitats (e.g., Juniperus and Prunus) or rely on high shade tolerance to withstand shaded conditions in wet habitats (e.g., Picea, Abies and Acer). In contrast, all avoiders have low embolism resistance and low shade tolerance. In arid habitats, avoiders tend to minimize catastrophic embolism (e.g., most Pinus species) while in wet habitats, they may survive despite low shade tolerance (e.g., Betula, Populus, Alnus and Salix). Because our approach links traits to the environmental conditions, we expect it could be a promising framework for predicting changes in species composition, and therefore ecosystem function, under changing environmental conditions.},
doi = {10.1093/treephys/tpy146},
journal = {Tree Physiology (Online)},
number = 5,
volume = 39,
place = {United States},
year = {2019},
month = {1}
}

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Works referencing / citing this record:

Physiological and Growth Responses to Increasing Drought of an Endangered Tree Species in Southwest China
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