Soil moisture thresholds explain a shift from light-limited to water-limited sap velocity in the Central Amazon during the 2015–16 El Niño drought

Meng, Lin; Chambers, Jeffrey; Koven, Charles; Pastorello, Gilberto; Gimenez, Bruno; Jardine, Kolby; Tang, Yao; McDowell, Nate; Negron-Juarez, Robinson; Longo, Marcos; Araujo, Alessandro; Tomasella, Javier; Fontes, Clarissa; Mohan, Midhun; Higuchi, Niro

doi:10.1088/1748-9326/ac6f6d

Title: Soil moisture thresholds explain a shift from light-limited to water-limited sap velocity in the Central Amazon during the 2015–16 El Niño drought

Journal Article · 26 May 2022 · Environmental Research Letters

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1088/1748-9326/ac6f6d · OSTI ID:1870598

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Lawrence Berkeley National Lab. (LBNL), Berkeley, CA (United States)
Lawrence Berkeley National Lab. (LBNL), Berkeley, CA (United States); Univ. of California, Berkeley, CA (United States)
National Inst. of Amazonian Research (INPA), Manaus (Brazil); Smithsonian Tropical Research Inst. (STRI), Gamboa (Panama). Center for Tropical Forest Science
Pacific Northwest National Lab. (PNNL), Richland, WA (United States)
Embrapa Amazônia Oriental, Pará (Brazil)
Centro Nacional de Monitoramento e Alertas de Desastres Naturais (CEMADEN), São José dos Campos (Brazil)
Univ. of California, Berkeley, CA (United States)
National Inst. of Amazonian Research (INPA), Manaus (Brazil)

Transpiration is often considered to be light- but not water-limited in humid tropical rainforests due to abundant soil water, even during the dry seasons. The record-breaking 2015–16 El Niño drought provided a unique opportunity to examine whether transpiration is constrained by water under severe lack of rainfall. We measured sap velocity, soil water content, and meteorological variables in an old-growth upland forest in the Central Amazon throughout the 2015–16 drought. We found a rapid decline in sap velocity (-38 ± 21%, mean ± SD.) and in its temporal variability (-88%) during the drought compared to the wet season. Such changes were accompanied by a marked decline in soil moisture and an increase in temperature and vapor pressure deficit. Sap velocity was largely limited by net radiation during the wet and normal dry seasons; however, it shifted to be primarily limited by soil moisture during the drought. The threshold in which sap velocity became dominated by soil moisture was at 0.33 m³ m^-3 (around -150 kPa in soil matric potential), below which sap velocity dropped steeply. Our study provides evidence for a soil water threshold on transpiration in a moist tropical forest, suggesting a shift from light limitation to water limitation under future climate characterized by increased temperature and an increased frequency, intensity, duration and extent of extreme drought events.

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Research Organization:: Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL), Richland, WA (United States)

Sponsoring Organization:: USDOE Office of Science (SC), Biological and Environmental Research (BER)

Grant/Contract Number:: AC05-76RL01830; AC02-05CH11231

OSTI ID:: 1870598

Report Number(s):: PNNL-SA-173580

Journal Information:: Environmental Research Letters, Journal Name: Environmental Research Letters Journal Issue: 6 Vol. 17; ISSN 1748-9326

Publisher:: IOP PublishingCopyright Statement

Country of Publication:: United States

Language:: English

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Title: Soil moisture thresholds explain a shift from light-limited to water-limited sap velocity in the Central Amazon during the 2015–16 El Niño drought

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