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Title: Species-Specific Shifts in Diurnal Sap Velocity Dynamics and Hysteretic Behavior of Ecophysiological Variables During the 2015–2016 El Niño Event in the Amazon Forest

Journal Article · · Frontiers in Plant Science
 [1];  [2];  [1];  [2];  [1];  [1];  [3];  [3];  [2];  [2];  [1];  [4]; ORCiD logo [5];  [6];  [2];  [2];  [7];  [8]
  1. National Institute of Amazonian Research (INPA), Manaus (Brazil)
  2. Lawrence Berkeley National Lab. (LBNL), Berkeley, CA (United States)
  3. Univ. of California, Berkeley, CA (United States)
  4. Embrapa Amazônia Oriental, Belém (Brazil)
  5. Oak Ridge National Lab. (ORNL), Oak Ridge, TN (United States)
  6. Los Alamos National Lab. (LANL), Los Alamos, NM (United States)
  7. Pacific Northwest National Lab. (PNNL), Richland, WA (United States)
  8. Lawrence Berkeley National Lab. (LBNL), Berkeley, CA (United States); Univ. of California, Berkeley, CA (United States)

Current climate change scenarios indicate warmer temperatures and the potential for more extreme droughts in the tropics, such that a mechanistic understanding of the water cycle from individual trees to landscapes is needed to adequately predict future changes in forest structure and function. In this study, we contrasted physiological responses of tropical trees during a normal dry season with the extreme dry season due to the 2015–2016 El Niño-Southern Oscillation (ENSO) event. We quantified high resolution temporal dynamics of sap velocity (Vs), stomatal conductance (gs) and leaf water potential (ΨL) of multiple canopy trees, and their correlations with leaf temperature (Tleaf) and environmental conditions [direct solar radiation, air temperature (Tair) and vapor pressure deficit (VPD)]. The experiment leveraged canopy access towers to measure adjacent trees at the ZF2 and Tapajós tropical forest research (near the cities of Manaus and Santarém). The temporal difference between the peak of gs (late morning) and the peak of VPD (early afternoon) is one of the major regulators of sap velocity hysteresis patterns. Sap velocity displayed species-specific diurnal hysteresis patterns reflected by changes in Tleaf. In the morning, Tleaf and sap velocity displayed a sigmoidal relationship. In the afternoon, stomatal conductance declined as Tleaf approached a daily peak, allowing ΨL to begin recovery, while sap velocity declined with an exponential relationship with Tleaf. In Manaus, hysteresis indices of the variables Tleaf-Tair and ΨL-Tleaf were calculated for different species and a significant difference (p < 0.01, α = 0.05) was observed when the 2015 dry season (ENSO period) was compared with the 2017 dry season (“control scenario”). In some days during the 2015 ENSO event, Tleaf approached 40°C for all studied species and the differences between Tleaf and Tair reached as high at 8°C (average difference: 1.65 ± 1.07°C). Generally, Tleaf was higher than Tair during the middle morning to early afternoon, and lower than Tair during the early morning, late afternoon and night. Our results support the hypothesis that partial stomatal closure allows for a recovery in ΨL during the afternoon period giving an observed counterclockwise hysteresis pattern between ΨL and Tleaf.

Research Organization:
Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL), Oak Ridge, TN (United States); Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (LBNL), Berkeley, CA (United States); Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL), Richland, WA (United States)
Sponsoring Organization:
USDOE Office of Science (SC), Biological and Environmental Research (BER)
Grant/Contract Number:
AC05-00OR22725; AC02-05CH11231; AC05-76RL01830
OSTI ID:
1530001
Alternate ID(s):
OSTI ID: 1530108; OSTI ID: 1560582; OSTI ID: 1567687
Report Number(s):
PNNL-SA-147536
Journal Information:
Frontiers in Plant Science, Vol. 10, Issue n/a; ISSN 1664-462X
Publisher:
Frontiers Research FoundationCopyright Statement
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English
Citation Metrics:
Cited by: 12 works
Citation information provided by
Web of Science

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The role of isohydric and anisohydric species in determining ecosystem-scale response to severe drought journal July 2015
Regulation of xylem sap flow in an evergreen, a semi-deciduous, and a deciduous Meliaceae species from the Amazon journal August 2002
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A comparison of sap flux density using thermal dissipation, heat pulse velocity and heat field deformation methods journal July 2010
A metadata reporting framework (FRAMES) for synthesis of ecohydrological observations journal November 2017
Terrestrial water fluxes dominated by transpiration journal April 2013
Death from drought in tropical forests is triggered by hydraulics not carbon starvation journal November 2015
Deforestation size influences rainfall journal February 2017
Amazonian rainforest tree mortality driven by climate and functional traits journal April 2019
Unsaturation of vapour pressure inside leaves of two conifer species journal May 2018
Stem water storage and diurnal patterns of water use in tropical forest canopy trees journal April 1998
Survey and synthesis of intra- and interspecific variation in stomatal sensitivity to vapour pressure deficit: Intra- and interspecific variation in stomatal sensitivity to vapour pressure deficit journal December 1999
Whole-tree water transport scales with sapwood capacitance in tropical forest canopy trees journal July 2003
The Surveyor's Area Formula journal September 1986
Novel Evidence for a Lack of Water Vapour Saturation Within the Intercellular Airspace of Turgid Leaves of Mesophytic Species journal January 1986
Effects of water stress on vessel size and xylem hydraulic conductivity in Vitis vinifera L. journal April 1998
An improved heat pulse method to measure low and reverse rates of sap flow in woody plants journal June 2001
Nighttime transpiration in woody plants from contrasting ecosystems journal April 2007
Effects of rising temperatures and [CO 2 ] on the physiology of tropical forest trees journal February 2008
Dry and hot: the hydraulic consequences of a climate change–type drought for Amazonian trees journal October 2018
Circadian Rhythms in Stomatal Responsiveness to Red and Blue Light journal October 1993
The Sites of Evaporation within Leaves journal February 2017
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Trees tolerate an extreme heatwave via sustained transpirational cooling and increased leaf thermal tolerance journal February 2018
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The contribution of fog to the water relations of Sequoia sempervirens (D. Don): foliar uptake and prevention of dehydration journal August 2004
Allometric Models for Tree Volume and Total Aboveground Biomass in a Tropical Humid Forest in Costa Rica1: Allometric Models of Volume and Biomass journal February 2005
Foliar uptake of fog water and transport belowground alleviates drought effects in the cloud forest tree species, Drimys brasiliensis (Winteraceae) journal March 2013
In situ temperature response of photosynthesis of 42 tree and liana species in the canopy of two Panamanian lowland tropical forests with contrasting rainfall regimes journal February 2017
Role of tree size in moist tropical forest carbon cycling and water deficit responses journal June 2017
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Stomatal responses to vapour pressure deficit are regulated by high speed gene expression in angiosperms: Rapid ABA biosynthesis during VPD transition journal November 2015
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Carbon in Amazon Forests: Unexpected Seasonal Fluxes and Disturbance-Induced Losses journal November 2003
Hyperdominance in the Amazonian Tree Flora journal October 2013
Theory and Practical Application of Heat Pulse to Measure Sap Flow journal January 2003
Risk-taking plants: Anisohydric behavior as a stress-resistance trait journal July 2012